This Feeling
by Dancesnapple
Summary: It seems the world is already set in its opinion for a certain Titan. However, it seems someone else has a different opinion. Friendship, battles, and romance await a certain half demon. Chapter 26 is just a trivia page. Story ends at 25.
1. Chapter 1

"EW, What is he?"

"Suzie, get back!"

Murmurs and whispers filled the game store as the man behind the register quivered. "G-get back! I'll call the police!"

In front of him, a teenage looking body with a gigantic spider for a head walked towards him. "Hand over all the money. NOW!"

The man shivered violently. "B-b-b-but-t I c-can't. You have to ma. . make a purchase."

A massive spider leg inched forward. "That's too bad." The man threatened, but a voice cut him off.

"You know?" The cashier's eyes glows with hope as he saw a familiar green teenager. "I can think of about half a dozen animals off the top of my head that squash spiders like pancakes."

The villain, Fang, scoffed. "Show me one."

The front of the shop is blasted apart as Fang's body smacks into and crushes half a car. He does not get up, completely unconscious. The massive green rhino turns back into the boy. He looks smug for a moment before seeing a game on the ground. "DUDE! New Immortal Fighters game? Didn't even know it was being made!" He turned back to the cashier. "I'll buy it!"

The cashier's gaped expression barely let him reply. "Uh. . . just take it."

The boy looked confused before the crowd started cheering for him. Hearing things like "Go Beast Boy!" and "Titans RULE!" Beast Boy sweat dropping before taking bows to the crowd.

. . . . .

"WHAT THE HECK?!" A man ran away as a bulldozer is chucked to the side.

"What happened to the steamroller?!" A man cried out, receiving a, "You idiot! That's Steamroller!" in response.

The massive robotic man with steam roller arms terrorized the construction yard. The massive villain smelt something like smoke and looked down. His feet were now welded to the ground. He turned to see a teenage orange girl with crimson red hair floating in front of him. "I apologize, but you are doing 'the trespassing'. Please leave."

Steamroller tries to move his legs, finding himself stuck by he welding. He then looks at the alien girl.

She realizes and rubs her neck awkwardly. "Aha. . . sorry!" The robotic man swung at her, but she flew over the hit. Her eyes glow green as green energy forms around her fists. With a warcry, she charges him and beats him into the ground. She floats over the downed enemy as the workers cheer similar cries as were heard for Beast Boy.

She blushed with a big smile, nodding and waving to the onlookers.

. . . . .

A french accent cheered with the open safe. "Huh HUH! I knew I'd do it." A man in a full grayish white jump suit and toboggan. He had a stereotypical french mustache. He tried to enter the bank safe, but an electric field shocked him back. He got up slowly, rubbing his head.

"Man, not trying to sound offensive, but you could not sound any more French?" The burglar jumped back into a fighting stance upon seeing the metal teen.

"Oh, missere Cyborg? Ze other brats are near, no?" He quickly ducks right and makes a break for the window. He tries to jump out, only to be shocked back, just like with the safe. Cyborg had placed electric fields around the building before making his presence known.

Cyborg shook his head. "Blanc, I don't need help to whoop yo' butt!" Cyborg merely cracked his knuckles before the French thief cracked.

"No! I surrender!" Blanc held his hands up in defense

Moments later, Cyborg walked from the bank with the villain in hand, meeting cheers outside. Cyborg fist pumps. "BOOYAH!"

. . . . .

All the machines run rampant as all the monitors display demonic faces. Citizen's looked wide eyed, some sweating from the awkward situations. The machines began tying up people, getting screams from them.

A fat man danced around in a chuckle. The man stopped as a demonic camera pointed at him. The fat man began a monologue. "Greetings America. It is I, CONTROL FREAK! Don't bother flicking your infernal remotes. I've taken over your air waves!" He chuckled. "Now. . . I trust you're all comfy at home on your tacky sofas from 'Rooms to Go?' Lots of nibbles at hand? Well tuck in! And why not smoke between gobbles? Yes, go for the gusto America! Live like there's no tomorrow. . . because as far as you sorry lot are concerned-" He smiled wickedly. "THERE VERY MUCH ISN'T! AHAHAHAAH-"

A small techno square landed as a flash filled the whole room. All the machines fell down as the lights flickered off. The monitors all blanked black.

Control Freak hit the button on his remote. Nothing happened. He hit it again. Again. Again. He gets angry. "What's going on with this blasted thing?"

"Portable EMP." An authoritative voice announces from behind.

Freak turns around, finding nothing. He turns back to his front, screaming in fear. "ROBIN!"

The Titan leader stood with his arms crossed with a small smirk.

Freak smiled wickedly and pointed the remote at him. "Begone!" He his the remote, and nothing happened. He suddenly looked afraid. "Oh yeah. . ." He looked up as a chop hits his neck, knocking him out. The crowd cheers.

. . . . .

A rock anthem played through the speakers as everyone clutched their ears. A man with spiky hair in a prison outfit rocked out with his guitar. He cackled as he played. "OH YES!"

Black energy coated the speakers as they exploded, muting the sound. He looks over, finding the blue hooded teen. A monotone voice came, mockingly. "no."

The man hopped down, inspecting his guitar. The black energy had broken it as well. He chucked it aside and picked up a bass guitar with a smile. "Sounds like someone wants to get. . . funky."

Raven got a small, nearly invisible smile. A black covered bass guitar floated by her. Punk Rocket began playing a simple bass beat. In fact, he began playing the bass battle from Scott Pilgrim.

Raven never laid a hand on the guitar as she made the instrument play the other half, the winning half, of the base battle, making Rocket's eyes widen. He points an accusing finger. "You think you can make a fool of me?!"

The next second, he was embedded into the wall by a black blast. Raven walked past him as she picked him up with her energy. "Yes." However, unlike the other Titans, the crowd looked intimidated as she hauled the bad guy out.

. . . . .

_**GNN News: Lori Prince Live.**_

A graying blonde haired man with a receding hairline and glasses appeared. "Good evening and welcome to Lori Prince Live. Tonight's subject: Families of heroes! Tonight we will speculate what influences may have an influence on some of our younger heroes."

"Joining me today is Gotham P.D.s own . . . Jim Gordon. How are you Jim?"

The mustached police commissioner appeared, giving a curt nod. "I'm good, Lori. Good."

Lori addresses the audience. "And also joining me today is world renowned business owner, Lex Luther. Mr. Luther, good of you to join us with your busy schedule."

Lex Luther appeared from another location, leisurely sitting on a comfy chair with a skyline view of Metropolis. "Always good to have a connection with the people. How can the common man understand me if I don't speak of common matters?"

Gordon gives a 'hmm' with his eye brow raised.

Lori started things off. "So, to start off, Mr. Gordon what are your thoughts on the super teens?"

"As it's well known, Robin, the leader of the Titans, originated from Gotham, so I've had a good idea about the team's ethics since I first heard of them. It's obvious they take most after the morals of the Batman. They save lives however they can, and are given the proper praise they deserve."

Lex put in his two cents. "I'm sorry if my information is wrong, commissioner, but haven't you and your department tried numerous times to arrest Batman for vigilantism? Why is it that these children get a by? While they have shown to have their heart in the right place, the truth of the matter is that they are kids. These problems they deal with should not be their concern."

Gordon's eyes narrow. "While I agree in some respects, the situations are much different. The Batman is a lone man with no supernatural element to him. He chooses his life. While I do appreciate the majority of his help, I do consider his case vigilantism, hence why we try to capture him." 

Lex's brow tilted. "And the Titans?" 

"Are comprised mostly of teens who obviously did not choose the lifestyle they live. They also have a much closer relationship with the police. The normal life was not an option for them, so they chose to help out the people. We should simply be grateful they chose to help instead of turning to crime like many that they fight." Gordon replied, confident in his answer.

Lex smirked, expecting the reply. "Yet their leader is no different from Batman, being his former protege, and how can we trust these kids? What do we know of their back stories? We know their leader is the disciple of a known vigilante, their technical expert is more machine than man, the changeling used to operate with the Doom Patrol which takes very drastic black and white measures, an alien with little proper understanding of our ways, and a mystery girl who, frankly, is more fear inspiring than safe inspiring. She's possibly the most dangerous of all."

Lori nodded along. "Excellent points on both sides. How then would you want to deal with crime, Lex?"

The tycoon smiled. "The only way we can! Increased technology available to out men in blue. I'm sure my company alone could make strides in that department."

"There are many men in my department that would die before selling out to you." Gordon cut in rudely. "You have a reputation, Luther. Not all of it good, especially from Superman's point of view."

Lori cut in. "You think we should fully embrace these heroes?"

Gordon nodded. "As I said, I appreciate the Batman's efforts, and his student is far more cooperative with the law. He's trustworthy. Cyborg is heavily affiliated with Star Labs, which works constantly for the betterment of man. The Doom Patrol has long since been accepted as an asset to the world for its efforts. Martian Manhunter is an alien, yet none of us hold any qualms against him. Starfire seems even more trustworthy than him, even. I say, let their track record speak for itself."

Luther retorted. "And what about Raven?"

". . ."

"Exactly. No matter how much you justify it, you cannot account for everyone, and that's unreliable."

Without any comment, Lori coughed to ease the tension. "And with that, our segment will end today. Thank you for joining us-"

"Thank you, Lori." Lex said politely.

Gordon once more nodded.

Lori smiled. "This has been Lori Prince Live."

. . . . .

The TV screen flicked off. Raven sat cross legged in the center of the living room. She faintly heard the door open up.

"Man, at least you go a fight. I was itching for SOMETHING, but the French guy just gave up!" Cyborg complained.

Beast Boy snickered. "What were you expecting from him?" He saw Raven floating, legs crossed. "How'd yours go? You give em' the old red eyes super scary routine, or was it interesting?" He mimicked a monster as he spoke his sentence with a smirk.

Raven opened one eye. "Meditating."

BB sighed. "Come ooooooon, you do that ALL the time. Maybe you could just once take part in bragging? You're supposed to be a bad ass prideful demon, right?"

The ending sentence makes her flinch very slightly as Cyborg slaps the younger Titan upside the head. "Good going."

BB rubbed his head. "I was saying it as a compliment. . ."

"Where's Robin and Star?" Raven said, changing the subject.

Cyborg snickered. "Romantic date." Cyborg started heading towards the kitchen. "What do you want? Steak stuffed turkey? Bacon lasagna? OH! Maybe some deep dish meat pizza!"

"DUUUUDE!" Beast Boy cried out in disgust.

Raven smiled slightly, but it quickly went away. "Decide for yourselves. I'm going out." She slowly descended through the floor.

Beast Boy stared wide eyed. "Since when does Raven go out?" He looked to the metallic teen, who shrugged.

. . . . .

The TV flicked off as a pink haired girl tossed the remote onto the couch. "Ya' know. Luther is kind of a jack ass."

Behind her, a large hairy man chuckled. "Don't let the criminal world hear you say that. He's bad news."

The girl scoffed. "He's a man in a suit. Who cares?"

"If he gives Superman trouble, then everyone should stay on his good side." Mammoth warned, but with a smile.

She rolled her eyes. "I understand THAT, but he's still a regular guy. The day he messes with me is his unlucky day." She snaps her fingers with visible pink energy to emphasize her point.

"Ah, cram it." Gizmo cut in, rudely, not that such a thing was uncommon. "If you're done with the crudmunching news, we got a meeting."

Jinx's muscles tensed. She righted her self. "How can we have a meeting if I didn't call it?"

Gizmo just looked her in the eye before leaving the room. She looked at Mammoth, who seemed to give away that he knew about it. This made her narrow her eyes.

They three arrive in a messy room with twelve seats around a table. She sat at one end of the table, Mammoth and Gizmo right beside her. She leaned forward with her elbow on the table to hold her head up. In the next seats were See-More, Kyd Wykkyd, six Billy Numerous', and finally Private Hive. She was still more than irritable about having more than five members in the 'Hive Five', but they talked her into it. They now only took five people out at a time just so the name made sense.

"Alright. What's this about?" She asked, grumpy. They seemed nervous for some reason.

Gizmo would have started, but being directly beside her kept even his mouth shut.

One of the Billys spoke. "We 'ave been wonderin'." The next Billy continued in an outburst. "Our teams a joke!" Three more yelled in unison. "Yeah!"

Jinx's eyebrow raised. "Asides from the name being a disaster these days, how so?"

"Look." See-More started. "The city knows that we're powerful and a force to be reckoned with, right? At this point, we're the only group still around capable of trading wins against the Titans. Despite this, the villains don't give us any respect, and it's easy to see why."

She scowled. "Explain."

Private Hive took charge. "The villains look at us as a joke. We're no different from the Titans in most of their eyes. We steal stuff, but don't do any more. We've come to the conclusion that if we want to be taken seriously, we need to do something serious."

Jinx tilted her head. "Like what? We steal things and fight the Titans. Not much else."

Gizmo grumbles before stating the obvious. "You stink brain. If we want to be serious bad guys, we need to show how stinkin' bad we are. We need to kill one."

The room fell into silence. All the members looked at their leader, who's face was shocked. "You. . . you're suggesting we start killing to prove a point?"

Mammoth scratched his head. "Ain't much different from when we first started fighting them, right? Even if we didn't succeed in killing em', we still tried."

Jinx replied, her voice louder. "Yeah! When we were controlled by Brother Blood! We don't kill for shits and laughs! Personal fortune. That's all."

"We have to think bout a rep, girl." Billy retorted. "Yeah, what he said." Another spoke.

Jinx replied mockingly. "Oh, so killing is going to make us seem SO much more cooperative with people. Please! Red X goes around without killing, and no one says anything about him!"

Mammoth held his hands up defensively. "Look, this ain't something that needs an answer right here, right now."

Jinx scoffed. She looked around them. ". . . You're all already on board with this, aren't you?" She saw no indication otherwise. "And what happens if I say no?" The looks seemed slightly ashamed. No reply came. She narrowed her eyes as she got up. She stepped towards the door.

"Ji-" Mammoth was cut off.

"I'm going out." She slams the door

. . . . .

Ah, 7 p.m. The time of day when the sun starts to set. Raven sat cross legged with her back leaning on a concrete wall. She sat at the edge of the park, watching all the people go by.

Of course, she wasn't one to like being noticed, so she changed her hair color to black. Her eyes were made a deep blue. Being early spring, it was still cold enough to justify the navy blue hooded jacket. The hood was up as well. Ironically, it was a jacket sold in stores as a 'Raven jacket', so it fit with her look. She also wore regular jeans and her usual boots. Her hood was up as she watched everyone.

A couple moved through the park, Raven looking them over. They didn't look like they were dating or anything, just moving through having a conversation. They seemed intelligent enough, the guy smirking as he seemed to have the edge in an argument before the girl said something to make him suddenly stop and have to think. She thought about who that reminded her of. _Robin and me. He understands me more than most._

She then saw two younger kids, male and female. The female seemed a few years older as the boy was attempting to prank her. However, just before his ball of mud hit her, she ducked away without even looking at him, making the boy fall in the mud and embarrass himself. Raven smiled weakly. _Seems about the same as me and Beast Boy. Try as he might, he always fails._

Another boy joined that group, bearing a large resemblance to the girl, but a few years older. He playfully put the younger buy in a head lock while lecturing him. Raven noted the protective behavior. _Cyborg. . ._

She then heard a loud screeching 'PLEASE!' The high pitch almost hurt Raven's hearing. She saw two high school girls, one walking ahead of the other annoyed. "Come on. You'll love it. They have this excellent show at the end with fireworks and a whole bunch of fun things!" The other one sighed heavily. Raven snickered. _That one's easy. _

Her eyes finally fell one a small family. Two parents played with their son under the shade of a tree. Raven couldn't help but draw a blank at this one. She studied the three, taking in the concerned looks from the mother when the child tripped to the laughing of the father at the son's muddy face. It was something she couldn't understand. Something she never knew and, thus, could never relate to.

By reflex, she started chanting. "Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos. Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos."

Blocks away, a certain girl was wandering through the streets. _Sure glad I stole this thing. _She toyed around with a silver necklace. The stone a brilliant violet. Her hair was down, blonde. Her eyes were still pink, but no cat like pupils. She wore a tight black hoodie with a pink interior showing on the down hood. She also wore tight black pants and shoes.

Finding an alleyway, she gets a small smile, quickly cart wheeling into it. She leaps through the fences and over the dumpsters, coming out to the next street without even a hitch in her breath. _God, I love parkour. _And she meant that. It always calmed her mind, kept her at ease. With a big smile, she saw the tall wall beside the street. The wall bordered the park._ Too easy. _

Taking a running start, she jumps off a post onto the top of the concrete wall, doing a cart wheel down it the going to full on flips while spinning down it. Little did she know, someone was at the base of the wall just a little while down.

Raven's eyes still locked on the family. She saw the son be picked up by the father, taking a seat on the man's shoulders. The wife smiled as she moved in and kissed her husband.

That did it. Outside of her control, a black spark of Raven's power came out, unnoticed by any of the park goers. The wall above her cracks. On top of the wall, Jinx lands on her hands in a flip as the softball sized chunk of concrete her hands land on breaks off.

Both girls have the exact same thought at once. _CRAP! I SLIPPED!_

There was a high pitched 'WAH!' as the blonde landed on the brunette with a shaking thud. Both girls rubbed their heads as they both snapped up. "I'm sorry!" Both said in unison.

Raven blushed in embarrassment while Jinx tilted her head with a chuckle. "I was the one that fell, why are YOU sorry?" Raven doesn't even reply as the two stand up, dusting off. Jinx tilts her head. _I've never seen her around here, and I know everyone around. _She smiles with pride. _Part of seeing who's worth stealing from. _"You're not from here are you?"

Raven was surprised. "I'm sorry?"

"Well, I've never once seen you, and I remember faces easily. You just move here?"

Raven wasn't sure how to respond, but thought quickly. "You. . . wouldn't be interested in knowing. I should go." She turned around to leave before Jinx scowled.

"You won't make friends with THAT attitude." She grabs Raven's shoulder, stopping her. "Besides, I fell on you. I need to make that up to ya'."

Raven was silently panicking. "I-I don't know if-"

Jinx held her hand out. "Jen." The brunette tilted her head with a 'what?' look. Jinx rolled her eyes. "My name? Short for Jennifer? Jennifer Arya" _Made that up on the spot. God I'm good._ She chuckled. "What about you?"

"Um." Raven thought quickly. "Arya? Is that-"

"Indian. At least I think. Not that I care much." She shrugged. "You?"

Raven's mind quickly flashed to her mother. _Name. Name. Name. _"Ra. . . chael. Rachael Roth."

Jinx smiled. "Definitely a new name. Well, since I owe you for using you as a landing pad, guess I might as well treat ya to dinner."

_The seven hells is up with this girl? _"You don't- I mean, I'm not-" Her stomach growls in answer. _Right. . . I didn't stay home for dinner. _

Jinx smiles. "Guess that answers that." She tugs on Raven's arm lightly, leading the way.

Raven looks around wildly. _What did I just get myself into? _

. . . . .

"You know." Jinx spoke with a mouth full of pizza. "When someone gets a large pizza, you eat the other half."

Raven's eye twitched as her stomach growled. She had yet to touch the food. "You're so elegant with food."

The blonde swallows and smiles. "Sorry. Comes from living with a group of guys."

Raven finally is roped into conversation, playfully replying. "I know the feeling."

Jinx smiled a Cheshire cat grin. "Finally! A reply! Now, if only you'd eat the damn free food." Raven started to refuse before another growl and reluctantly starts picking up a piece.

Between bites she nearly whispers. "I'm not good with handouts."

"Jeeze." Jinx held her hands up, nearly giving up. "You're stubborn as hell aren't you?"

"You're the one that's still trying." Raven points out.

"Of course! Now, what brings you to Jump?" Jinx asks.

Raven got uncomfortable. "Well. . ." _Why do I have to do this? This is Robin's schtick. _"I just needed to get away from my previous home." _Okay, at least THAT'S true. _

"And where are you from?" Jinx tilted her head.

Once more, the image of Raven's mother came to mind. "Gotham."

Jinx was surprised. "Dang. That's one famous hell hole. No wonder you left. No offense."

Raven smirked. "None taken, but there are much worse places."

Jinx chuckled. "Naturally. Did you ever see Batman?" Her curiosity made her go a mile a minute. "Was he badass? Ever get a good look at his face? What about-" Raven cut her off by clasping her hand over Jinx's mouth.

"No, I never saw him. If you ever DID see him, rest assured you were about to have a very bad night." Raven replied simply. She decided the less questions she had to answer, the better. She decided to ask her own. "But here it's the Titans right? What are they like?"

Jinx immediately pursed her lips, remembering the earlier conversation with her team. She shook her head, getting a smile back, but Raven noticed the look. "The Titans are. . . pretty damn good. The bad guys rarely get anything over on them. They're a lot more public than the bats." Jinx took a sip from a drink. "Kind of surprising since their leader is a stick in the ass Batman impersonator."

_Oh god, if you only knew. _Raven continued. "What about the others?"

Jinx scowled. _Alright, time to play the fangirl. _Her face lit up. "Well, of course there's Cyborg, the metal jock tech guy. Pretty much combine a football quarterback with a super nerd. Impossible not to enjoy."

Raven smirked. _Pretty accurate._

"Then there's Starfire. Honestly, she deserves to be blonde more than me. Very much a good girl, but dim witted."

_She has a lot of moments of wisdom. _Raven thought, but only had to remember one of Star's many outbursts to see where this girl was coming from.

"Then there is Beast Boy. Too much energy for his own good. He's about as smart as the animals he turns into. Though, to be fair, if I could turn into a T-rex, I wouldn't care at all about learning things."

_Again, pretty accurate. . . but she sounds indifferent. Not much a fan. God only knows what she'll say to me._

"Hmm The last one is Raven, but no one really knows a lot about her. Wears a lot of blue. Doesn't talk much. She's easily the wisest of the whole bunch, but can't get much read on her personality. Though if I had to guess, she's probably someone easily annoyed and smarter than most people. Easily my favorite of the group."

_. . . . . . HUH?! _A loud burst was heard from outside the pizza place. The source? Raven's powers just exploded a trash can in a nearby alley.

Jinx looked out the window. "You hear that?"

Raven spoke a little too quickly, slightly red. "Could be anything."

Jinx then saw that Raven's half of pizza was gone. "Shit girl! You eat fast. I didn't even notice."

Raven noticed the darkness outside. "What time is it?"

Jinx looked at a clock. "Nearly 10. Jeeze." She frowned. "Here I was actually having fun, too."

Raven blinked a few times as she processed that sentence. _She. . . thought I was fun? That might be the greatest joke I've heard this year. _"So, what now?"

Jinx tilts her head. "Um, you give me a number or something? I wouldn't mind hanging out more."

"I. . . don't exactly have a phone."

Jinx looked offended. "What?! That's just a crime." Jinx then chuckled at some joke Raven didn't get. OH, the irony. She walks to the cashier, getting a pen and paper. She quickly writes a note and comes back, handing it to Raven. "You call me then, whenever you're free. Or text."

Raven blushed slightly. "Um. . . I'll take calling. Never texted before."

Jinx cackles. "Okay, you are new. Okay, let me know when to hang." She smiles. "Can you find your way home?"

Raven gives a tiny smile. "I can get there no problem."

Jinx gets up, smiling as she pats Raven's shoulder and leaves the pizzeria. Raven takes a few breaths in and out before leaving as well with a smile.


	2. Chapter 2

_A man dashed through cover as a massive beams rips apart the landscape. The young man, looking in his teens, looks around, alerted. The sky turned red with lightning coursing through the air. _

_The man suddenly created a crimson energy shield as a bright beams bashes through it. A figure floats down. A pale red man with long white hair. His eyes are pitch black as he prepares to attack the teen.A deep, yet not too demonic voice sounds. "Why don't you give up?" _

_The teen, with orange red hair, chuckles. "I guess I never really learned how." The teen looked up with a smirk, revealing four glowing red eyes._

Raven jolted from her bed. She breathed heavily, glancing around the room. _A dream. . . just a dream. _She closes her eyes to calm down, wiping the sweat from her head. She saw light outside and looked at her clock. 7 a.m. _Earlier than usual, but I need a drink. _

. . . . .

A loud sigh of relief filled the room as she poured her cup of tea. With a single sip, all stress melted away. She floated over to the couch, book floating beside her. The tome opened to a bookmarked page as she read, sipping her tea.

Her peace lasted all but five seconds as a voice interrupted. "'Visions in dreams?' Passive interest or having problems?" She would be startled if she didn't know he'd be awake this hour anyway.

"Good morning, Robin." She greeted without looking at him. "And not sure. A weird dream, probably nothing, but it did stimulate some interest in the subject."

The detective shrugged. He hopped onto couch, mug of coffee in hand. "I was told you went out last night."

She raised her eyebrow without looking at him. "I wasn't aware that I needed permission."

He smirked. "You don't. It's just surprising. Make any friends?" He joked.

Her reply was full of sarcasm. "Oh, totally. I'm a regular popular girl now." She smiled slightly. "Though I did talk with someone for quite a while, even though us meeting was a little. . . unconventional."

Robin's brow raised. "Nothing involving your powers, right?"

Raven shifted uncomfortably. "Slightly. They didn't notice and thought that it was their fault, though. That led to us chatting for a few hours. It wasn't really my choice."

Robin nodded. "That's good." She would argue, but he continued. "You meeting them again?"

Raven tilted her head, looking put off. "Considering I have to call THEM, probably not."

He chuckled. "You don't expect to make friends with that attitude, do you?"

"You're strangely supportive of this." She noticed.

Robin shrugged. "It's been nearly a year since we beat Trigon." He noted. "If it involved your powers, of course I want to help keep it secret, but I won't ever object to you making any emotional connections with anyone. Four roommates in a tower can only hold you over so far." He finished with a smile.

Raven shut her book and finished her tea, teleporting the items away, the cup to the sink and book to her room. "Your concern is noted. . . thanks."

The conversation was cut short at red lights flashed with an alarm. Robin quickly got to a computer and pulled up information. "The Hive Five."

. . . . .

Jinx bagged a collection of jewels. "Now, these are what mama's looking for."

"Tan my fur, we hit a jack pot!" Bill squealed with visible dollar signs in his eyes. Other Billys crowded around a pile of jewelry. One Billy wore a golden crown. "I dub thee, lord Billy the thousandth!" The Billy next to him bowed over dramatically. "Why, thank you, Kind Billy!" The Billys all turned and screamed scared to see Kyd Wykkyd staring blankly at them with royal attire draped all over him. The Billy that just got knighted compares 'King Billy' and Kyd. "Sorry, Billy. Kyd wears it better." He takes the crown, eliciting a 'HEY!' before giving it to Kyd. "King Wykkyd!"

Jinx could only roll her eyes. "Idiots." She turned to See-More. "They on their way yet?"

The cyclops nodded. "I spy with my little eye. . ." He smiled wide. "Five Titan pests. AHA!"

Jinx smirked. The door blasted open as the team of heroes charged in. Robin spoke first. "You guys made a mistake attacking in broad daylight."

Beast Boy tilted his head and counted on his hands. "Why are there seven of you?"

Jinx glared at her team. "Not my choice." She then turned back with a grin. "But only five of us are needed to mop the floor with you losers. Attack pattern Zeta!"

"Titans GO!"

Kyd immediately teleports out of the room with his loot as all the Billy's make a hasty retreat. A massive black taloned hand cuts them off. The black dissipates, revealing Raven in their path.

"Eegags, Billy. The witch is lookin' pissy." "Oh, I see what you mean, Billy."

Raven's eye twitched. "Azarath, Metrion. Zin-" She quickly brought her shield up to block a pink hex, pushed her back into the wall. The Billys quickly ran outside.

Jinx landed in front of her. "Aw, why would you go after anyone else when you have me to fight?"

Raven gathered black energy. "Dealing with you is too much of a chore."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Jinx jumped forward, charging pink energy into her legs and releasing it in a drop kick. The kick smashes into a shield, Raven throwing her off. The demi demon brings her hands together, bring objects in from all sides on Jinx. The pinkette smacks her palm into the ground as a mini sinkhole opens up, dropping her below the attack. The floor caves in under Raven as she takes flight, Jinx leaping up from the rubble to kick Raven. The kick hits, but Raven recovers, grabbing Jinx and tossing her away with her power.

Over with Robin, he easily side stepped several punches before sweeping out Private Hive's legs. The larger man fell on his back before Robin placed his staff at Hive's neck, keeping him down. However, Robin is blasted aside, letting Hive get up. He gives a nod to See-More for the helping hand.

The cyclops scans the area, finding Starfire and Cyborg flanking Gizmo, the midget flying around like a fly to dodge their attacks. He zooms in on Cyborg, before blasting the metallic teen. "HAHA!" He cackled before his whole vision turned green. "What?" He adjusted his visor before seeing Starfire over top of him with a massive green energy ball over her head. "Oh boy."

Before Star attacks, she's blasted away as Gizmo flies off with a cackling laugh. A blue sonic blast nearly hits him as Cyborg comes back. "Get back here so I can whoop your butt!"

Mammoth shoulder tackles Cyborg into the wall from behind. "I got that action." A growl caught his attention as he turned right into a T-rex head butt, planting the hair teen into the wall in a daze.

Gizmo looked around with a sinister grin. He looked and found Raven and Jinx trading blows, the witch's back to Gizmo. He smiled as he armed all his weapons. "One snot munching Titan down."

Jinx flipped back from two black tendrils launched by Raven. She landed professionally as she looked up, seeing a dozen or so missiles closing in on Raven's back. _What?! _

Raven halted, her empathic abilities going off. She sensed. . . anxiety. Panic?

"DUCK!" Jinx ordered. Raven, confused, turned to see the incoming missiles.

_DAMN!_ The missiles closed in, suddenly cutting off their propulsion with pink sparks from their sides. The pink sparks cause them to go off before making it to their target, but the explosion still blasts Raven away.

Unaware of what was happening, Raven righted herself with her feet on the ground, skidding into Jinx, who caught the violet haired girl. Jinx took one look at Raven, expecting a bunch of burns, but found no damage. "Shit, Raven! How resilient are you?!" Raven, still confused, gave no response before Jinx's eyes flashed pink. The villain blasted Raven into a wall.

"RAVEN!" The other members of the Titans gathered around the downed demon.

Jinx quickly fired her hexes into all the walls. "Catch you next time, wimps!" The remaining Hive members follow her as they retreat from the now crumbling building.

As the building fell, Raven teleported the group outside.

Outside, the group watched the building fall. Cyborg grumbled. "Well, that sucked."

Beast Boy's ears came down, looking sad. "We got owned."

Starfire, ever positive, cut in. "I think we did rather well, until the Gizmo fired his rockets."

They looked at the nearly undamaged Raven, who scowled at nothing in particular. "He'll pay for attacking from behind like that." Robin opened his mouth to speak, but Raven cut him off. "No, the missiles would not have come close to killing me, but I could tell that was his intention. Jinx wouldn't have detonated the missiles before they hit me if she knew I'd survive either way."

Robin's eyes widened. "She saved you?"

Cyborg cut in. "They aren't killers, man. Just like when X saved us from Chang."

Robin's gaze narrowed. "Well, it looks like some of them are considering changing that habit. Come on. Let's go home."

. . . . .

Gizmo's backpack sparks as the midget falls to the ground. "Crud!" He hits the ground, seeing his technology sparking pink. "What the hell was that about?!"

Jinx scowled at him. "I should be the one asking that. The hell was with launching over a dozen missiles at someone's back?"

Gizmo frowned. "That's what you're angry about? Who the hell cares?! She's an enemy, so I don't care if I kill her."

Jinx's eyes glow pink. "I don't remember giving you permission to make that call!"

See-More cut in shyly. "It did provide a perfect distraction to get away. . ."

Jinx glared at him a second. Gizmo shot back. "Whatever gets the damn job done. If you can't handle that, maybe you don't belong as leader of this team."

Jinx scoffed. "And if any of you believe this team would survive with someone else in charge, be my guest and take over." She looked at the others, none of them looking at her. "Anything? No? Okay then." She marched out.

. . . . .

Out in the city, Jinx hopped from rooftop to rooftop. She lands flawlessly at the edge of a skyscraper, looking down. She took a deep breath. "God he's an idiot."

A filtered voice replied. "Idiots make up most the population." Jinx jolted and looked to the source, dropping her guard when she recognizes the man.

"Haven't heard anything bout' you lately. What happened to 'lookin out for number 1'?" She spoke mocking the fellow thief on the roof.

A man in a black suit, gray gloves and belt, a skull for a mask decorated with a red cross marks. Red X. "I wasn't aware master thieves advertised their exploits. Seems more than a little stupid to me."

Jinx narrows her vision. "Noted. What do you want?"

"Trouble in paradise?" He crouched over the edge of the building. "Saw your tussle with the go go titan rangers."

Jinx snorted lightly, containing a chuckle. "I'll give that to you." Then she scowled. "What the hell were YOU doing watching us?"

X put his hand to his chin in fake thought. "I don't think master thieves share their master plans."

Jinx pointed out. "You don't plan. . ."

X chuckled. "Take it easy, Lucky. I'm not a bad guy. Been busy." Jinx decides to ignore him as she looks over the city. X's voice cut in again. "So what kind of decision you gonna make?" She tilted her head. "You going to cross that line, or are you gonna play yourself off as a saint?"

How the? How did he know about this discussion. She chokes out. "How do you-" He simply points at himself, as if to say 'look at who you're talking to?' She grumbles and replies rudely. "Not your business."

"Whatever you say." He chuckles to himself.

Suddenly, a phone went off. Jinx's eyes widened slightly. She pulled a flip phone from her pocket, frowning at the number she didn't recognize. She answered. "Hello?"

. . . . .

(Moments ago)

To say the Titans were in a bad mood was pretty accurate. Star emerged from the kitchen with an eerily green cake and a huge smile. "Friends! Perhaps a cake would help cheer up the mood of sadness?"

"I'm not sad." Raven said curtly.

"Just angry." Cyborg noted.

"Frustrated." Raven corrected.

Beast Boy cut in, his mood uplifted. "I GOT IT!" He gets his white board out, making everyone but Starfire groan. He started making a bunch of pictures. "They always have an advantage because they outnumber us, right? The answer!" He revealed. "Ninja monkey commandos! Trained by Robin and outfitted by Cyborg. Gathered by yours truly!"

Robin and Cyborg both face palmed as Starfire clapped in applause. "Friend, what would my role be?"

Raven blinked twice, then spoke. "Before I tell you how stupid that is, I'd like to know my supposed role in this."

He thought, before snapping his fingers. "I got it!" He drew more on the board, a bunch of monkeys of different appearances with small DNA pictures. "Spliced with DNA from our women, we get. . . NINJA TAMERANEAN MONKEY COMMANDO DEMONS!"

Even Starfire sweat dropped at that. "That title seems. . . long."

Raven just sighed, shaking her head. "I knew the answer would be stupid, and yet I asked." She got up. "I'm out." She slowly made her way to her room. _There's not much else we can do until they show up again. Guess I'll read up on that dream I had. _She entered her dark room, looking from where she left the book. However, she quickly found a slip of paper. Her eyes widened slightly as she started to fidget. _Would now be a good time? There's still daylight out I guess, but would it be too. . . _She then spoke out loud. "I'm not the right person for this. Ugh." She pulled out her communicator, entering in the number.

. . . . .

Jinx answered the phone. "Hello?" She then added. "If this is a call about bills, I'm not interested."

A slightly quiet, yet sarcastic voice came in awkwardly. "You always this welcoming over the phone?"

Jinx did a double take. "Holy sh- I didn't even think I'd get a call from ya'." Jinx smirked slightly. She then saw Red X tilting his head at her. She scowled. "What you calling for, Rachael?"

"Possibly to loosen up after today. . . unless you're busy." It sounded awkward as it came back. Jinx guessed Rachael wasn't used to asking others to hang out.

Jinx took one side look at Red X before smiling. "Meet at the same park in ten minutes? You have no idea how much hell you'd be saving me from."

A very light chuckle was heard before 'Rachael' replied. "Okay."

"See ya!"

"Bye." Rachael said politely.

Jinx looked at Red X. "As much as I'd LOVE to sit here and listen to you dick around with me, I have plans."

Red X laughed. "Whatever, Lucky."

. . . . .

"There is no. . . way in hell. . . I am riding that." Raven, in black hair and blue eyes, looked up at the massive roller coaster.

Jinx, in blonde hair, pushed her closer to it. "Oh, come on! You can't be that much of a baby."

Raven keeps her monotone. "Oh, I don't care at all for the ride itself. I just can't stand the-" A loud screeching set of screams interrupted their conversation, Raven actually lightly quivering and tilting away from the sound. Her voice got threatening. "Screaming. . ."

Jinx pushed Raven, more inspired than ever. "All the more reason to do it! I get to see you mad!"

Raven looked at the girl like she was nuts. "Yeah. You're definitely either the most brave or most stupid girl I've ever met. Probably both."

Jinx laughed. "Girl? You mean you know a guy that's worse than me?"

Raven's mind immediately flashed to the earlier monkey display from Beast Boy. "Much worse."

Jinx snapped her fingers in mock disappointment. "Darn. I need to step up my game."

"Please don't." Raven smirked. "Now, we gonna drill more questions at each other?" _This time, I'm ready!_

Jinx smiled wide. "Sure! Favorite color?"

Raven wasn't prepared for that one. For what possible reason would that be relevant. She also couldn't control 'Happy''s outburst. "Pink." _Shit, why did I say that! _

Jinx burst out laughing. "And here you wear blue all day! I'd like to see you in pink."

Raven grew slightly red. "Pink looks awful on me. I assume pink is yours?"

Jinx chuckled. "Purple." She pointed to the stone on her necklace.

"That was my second guess, actually. Your second favorite?"

Both replied at the same time. "Black." They snickered. Jinx spoke. "You're turn to ask one."

Raven thought. _Come on. I had a whole list in my mind earlier. Oh, wait! _"You said I'd be saving you a lot of hell by inviting you out. What did you mean by that?" Jinx's expression fell. Raven's empathic abilities immediately picked up the mood change. "Sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

Jinx smiled, getting some positive energy back instantly. "It's okay. Just a lot of trouble with roommates." Jinx tilted her head. "Speaking of. You said last time you understood those problems. What kind of people you sleep with?"

Raven's face went red, but kept straight. "Phrasing."

Jinx cackled. "I did that on purpose actually! But come on, out with it."

Raven smiled. "They're nice. All different personalities, but all similar in how we see each other. They're like a family. One was just packing on some extra idiocy, so it reminded me that I needed to give you a call."

Jinx smiled at that. "That's good. Wish I could say the same. What about your real family?"

They noticed that they had made it to the front of the line for the ride. Raven frowned immediately. He face was enough answer. "I. . ."

"Sorry. My turn to feel bad for asking." Jinx said.

Raven thought back to the family she saw in the park. "What about you?"

Jinx chuckled. "Don't know. Never met em'."

Raven tilted her head. "But your last name-"

Jinx shrugged. "I made it myself. All I know is that I'm supposedly Indian by blood."

Raven nodded. "I see."

They fell silent a moment, the awkwardness setting in as they were gestured to the ride. Jinx lit up. "Thank god for activities."

. . . . .

Jinx burst out laughing as Raven's head hit the table. The brunette clutched at her head. "You really do hate crowds! I'm sorry. Let me buy you a drink. What can help?" The two were now in a cafe inside the theme park.

Raven muttered. "Herbal. . . Tea."

Within moments, Jinx came back in with two cups. She handed one with tea for Raven.

She took a sip, her mind instantly relaxing some. She looked at the drink 'Jennifer' had. A light brown foamy beverage with cream out the top. "What in the seven hells is that?"

Jinx looked at the drink. "Coffee from Starbucks."

Raven blankly stared. ". . . That's a milkshake."

Jinx tilted her head. "Coffee."

"Anything with foam and cream in it, and milk from what I assume, is not coffee." She says plainly.

Jinx pursed her lips. "It has a lot of the same stuff as coffee."

Raven did the same. "Still doesn't change anything. Coffee is black filth that my roommate drinks to stay awake for ungodly amounts of time. That is a milkshake."

Jinx widened one eye and held her drink out. "Taste it then. This will keep you awake."

"I don't doubt that, but its still a milkshake." She smirked at how she was getting under Jinx's skin. Payback for the 'amusement' park ride.

Jinx opens her mouth to argue further before news intro music plays. The two look up at a tv. Jinx snickered. "This guy. . . I don't like or hate him, but all he does is bring in two opposing people to debate about pointless crap."

Raven locked her eyes on the screen.

_**GNN NEWS: Lore Prince Live.**_

A familiar man appeared on screen. "Good evening and welcome to Lori Prince Live. Tonight's subject: Failure to Catch. Teen Titans battled infamous criminals known as the 'Hive Five' earlier today, this afternoon." He did air quotes when presenting the name of the bad guys. "Joining me today is renowned psychologist, Hugo Strange. How are you, good doctor?"

A man appeared from another location behind a desk. His room was lit well, but not too bright, indicating a classical reading by the campfire atmosphere of sophistication. "I'm doing wonderful, Lori."

"And also joining me by satellite phone is a 'Mr. Wilson'. Wilson, are you with us okay?"

A voice with slightly lower quality sounded. A deep, wise voice that Raven could swear she'd heard before. "Of course, Lori."

Lori addressed Strange first. "So doctor, what are your thoughts on the failed attempt by the Titans to capture these criminals today?"

The psychologist smiled politely. "Life is full of successes and failures. I simply hope they don't take this one too hard. Teenagers often find themselves having overreactions. After all, even the Justice League does not instantly capture all their enemies. Some of those enemies are still at large, even now."

"You believe that they will succeed in the end?" Lori asked.

"Who's to say? I do certainly hope that they will. It depends on their state of mind."

The deep voice responded. "If I may, doctor, I believe you are wrong on that point. The Titans aren't a force you want to take lightly. Indeed, with many threats they find themselves at a disadvantage at first, yet they always win in the end."

Strange frowned slightly. "They cannot be that absolute. They are, after all, human deep down. Human's make mistakes. Let's look at their members. The leader follows the footsteps of a vigilante."

Mr. Wilson retorted. "Granting a strong sense of judgment, and a sense of right and wrong. A good asset."

Strange leaned back with a smirk. "Then there is Cyborg, who operates at a simple level. A jock who's over half machine. Even I can't imagine what his mind may be like."

Wilson, once again defended. "Easily motivated into action with plenty of intelligence and know how to get the job done."

Strange's smirk was wiped off. "A green boy who shares a mind of animals. That in itself is a danger to their efforts."

"Most animals are heavily defensive or passive. He's possibly the least likely to be turned against the public."

"An alien who's understandings and meanings about us are incomplete?" Hugo once more smirked, thinking he won.

"This is America, is it not? Immigrants often don't understand everyone else here, yet they help establish our identity. She is no different."

Hugo scowled. "And then we have an obviously emotionally damaged girl who seems like she's as like to attack us as she is likely to help. The public has seen her apprehensions of the criminal Dr. Light. Raven could do that at any time."

There was a silence. Hugo smiled triumphantly, until the reply came. "Scratch what was said before." Lori and Strange seem confused. "I had said Beast Boy was possibly the least of our worries. Truth is, you need to worry about Raven even less."

Strange leaned over his desk. "How do you know that?"

"It requires. . . experience." The voice said. "Experience you don't have, doctor. No offense." The voice had meant to offend. There was no denying that.

Lori cut in. "Well, it seems we've run out of time. Thank you for your time, doctor."

Strange sounded annoyed as he answered. "Thank you, Lori."

"And thank you for your time, Mr. Wilson."

The voice chuckled. "Please, use my full name."

Lori smiled. "Right. Mr. Slade Wilson everybody."

The TV cut off, leaving both Raven and Jinx completely stunned in place.

Jinx's mouth hung open. _Tha-tha-th-th-that-that was SLADE?!_ Somehow, she managed to stutter in her mind.

Raven's jaw nearly unhinged. _He. . . defended us?! Why?! What's his game? What does he have to gain? _She then remembered she was in company and clamped her mouth shut, trying and failing to look uninterested. _Good god, Robin is going to have a migraine on this one. . . Slade Wilson. We have a name now. This means. . . we could actually find him. _She thought a moment. _What was that last comment about? I'm the most trustworthy? _She resisted the need to scoff. She looked at 'Jennifer', who looked nervous. _Right, Slade did take over the city at one point. Guess the citizens would know SOMETHING about him, but they shouldn't have known him well enough on hand. _

Jinx straightened up and said annoyed. "That guy was a jackass!" Raven glanced at her. "Some doctor! He doesn't even know them, yet he openly goes to talking crap about them. It's ridiculous. Especially after saying how he 'hopes they'll succeed'. Such bullshit." _I almost feel bad for stealing today. . . almost. My money has to come from somewhere, but jeez. Titans can't get good press to save their lives._

"Yeah. . ." Raven needed to calm down. "Let's try to change the subject."

Jinx frowned. "Ugh, my brains fried after that."

"Please. I'm not good at small talk." Raven's mind was just as fried. She didn't want to take the effort to think.

Jinx wondered for a few seconds. "I don't know. Got any guy in your life?"

Raven choked on her own breath. "What?!"

"You know? Boyfriend back home in Gotham? Or girlfriend, I don't know your preference." Jinx shrugged.

"No!" Raven said almost too quickly. She'd never even considered ever having that possibility. Closest she got to it was Malchior, who currently occupied 'Top Shelf Street' in Raven's room.

Jinx smirked. "No boyfriend? Or no girlfriend?"

The brunette tried to calm down. Her power already gripped onto a pole outside. She relaxed as the power disappeared. "Either! Both! I'm not- I mean. How do you even ask that?"

Jinx snickered. "How do you ask if someone has a girlfriend? Easy. I just ask."

"But that's. . ." Raven's mind was in full overload.

Jinx laughed. "I AM bisexual after all."

Yeah, that did it. **Thump Thump. . . Thump Thump. . . Thump Thump. . . Thump Snap.** Raven's power snapped her cup in half, spilling her leftover tea on the table, though the brunette didn't notice. There was also an audible crack outside as a cart falls over, knocking around a bunch of. . .

"MY CABBAGES!" A screeching yell sounded.

Jinx didn't notice the powers part, but still burst out laughing. "Dang! Bad luck must follow you around. Don't worry. I can relate." She chuckles to herself as she grabs some napkins. "Let me help you." She helps wipe up the tea as Raven's face stays red, completely failing to hold an impassive glare.

After a moment, Raven had calmed down enough to feel a growing sense of worry coming from the girl across from her.

"I'm sorry. Are you anti-gay or something?"

Raven shook her head. "Not at all. Just. . ."

"The thought of you and another girl?" Jinx guessed. Raven kept silent. "You could test it out if you're unsure." There was no joke in Jinx's voice. It was a serious proposition. There was no sign of lying in her face, voice, or her feelings that Raven picked up. That of course made it all the more alarming. Thank god, Jinx burst out into laughter. "Okay! Now, I'm sorry. Should probably wait until you finish your panic attack before flirting, right?"

Raven opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out. She finally succeeded in making a dull expression. "ANYWAY!"

. . . . .

It was now about 9:30 p.m. Raven and Jinx walked through the park. "And I was like 'there is no way in hell your getting me to eat that!' Guys can be disgusting." Jinx comments, remembering Mammoth eating the blue mold covered food way back when the Hive had kicked the Titans out of their tower.

Raven chuckled. "Oh, believe me. I know."

"Try me." Jinx challenged.

Raven monotoned. "Stank Ball. . ."

Jinx nearly tripped. "Okay. . . what?"

"It's dodgeball. . . except the 'ball' is made up of stinking, sweaty, balled up clothing." Raven remembered. "Just as a note, the one time they got me to play, I kicked their asses."

She looked over to find a horrified expression on Jinx's face. "What the flying fuck is your place like?"

"Hectic. Crazy."

Jinx mutters with a smirk. "Sounds like Looney Toons."

Raven thinks. "Yeah, pretty much." They both laugh.

Jinx smiles. "Well." She suddenly pulls Raven into a hug. "Guess tonight's over. Should definitely hang again."

Raven felt her power crack a concrete slab, but kept it from exploding. "Yeah. . . just don't flirt and we'll be fine."

Jinx pulls off. "Oh? I think you like it." Raven's expression holds, but the red appears. "Exactly. Night!" She ran off in one direction, leaving Raven by herself.

**Thump Thump. . . Thump Thump. . . Thump Thump. . . **Raven nearly screamed in her mind. _STOP THUMPING DAMN IT! _**Thump Thump. . . **Raven let out an audible wine. "What's going on?"


	3. Chapter 3

_**Can you hear me?**_

_A mass dome of energy detonates, leaving a wasteland. A crater miles wide is left, surrounded by thick black leaf forests. The sky once more shone bright red with dark clouds. _

_**I know you can.**_

_A young orange haired teen leaned against a pile of rubble, breathing heavily. He clutched his side as he steadied his breathing. _

_**You just don't know how to talk back.**_

"_Are you done resisting me? We've been fighting for days." A figure appears out of the blowing dust in the wind. Light red with long white hair, the look of a sorcerer. "Submit."_

_The teen let out a hearty chuckle and gave a wicked grin, blood leaking from his mouth. The teen's four red eyes glow. "Submit? Aren't we still warming up?" _

_**As much as I may hate to admit it, I may need help.**_

_The two squared off and charged each other. _

_**Raven. . .**_

The titan jolted from her sheets. Once more, she was covered in sweat, unsure what to make of it. She rubbed her temple. _Every morning. . . _

She slowly gets up before looking at the clock. Not even 3 o'clock AM yet. She groans. She falls back onto her bed. _Too early. Even for me._

. . . . .

"Rachael!" The voice jolted Raven from her sleep. She looks up at the blonde. Right, they were hanging out again. She must have fallen asleep on her friend. "Jeez. It's called sleeping. Maybe you need more of it?" Her friend offered with a smile.

Raven sighed, eyes half shut. "I would if I could. Sorry."

'Jen' tilted her head, showing slight understanding. "If you were too tired, you shouldn't have come out. I don't want ya' fallin' over in the street and having to drag you home. The guys might ask some questions."

Raven muttered something in-comprehensive.

"What?" The blonde leaned over the table.

". . . coffee." A soft thud was heard. Raven opened her eyes, seeing a Starbucks cream coffee. ". . . That's a milkshake."

Jinx groaned. "Not this shit again. Drink it and like it!"

Raven smiled lightly as she got up and started drinking. It's been a full week since the nightmares started, and add one day for when she met Jennifer. Raven hummed in slight satisfaction, since she could see straight again. "So what's the agenda?"

Jennifer pouted. "I WAS going to suggest we go see a movie, but that won't keep you awake."

Raven chuckled. "I can pay attention to anything as long as it's interesting."

Jennifer took one look at Raven before scolding the brunette. "Yeah, I call bullshit on that. Swimming? I could see you in a bikini." Jennifer added with a wink.

Raven blushed, but otherwise didn't react. It was becoming common place, so she was prepared. "Not happening."

"Go dancing in a club?"

"We're underage-"

"There's places for tee-" 

"No."

Jennifer pouted. "OH! Laser Tag!" One look gave her the answer. "Play frisby in the park?" Same blank stare. "Basketba-" The look again. "The mall?"

Raven smirked, thinking of Starfire. "While going with you would be more comfortable than my usual mall companion, she would probably sob herself to sleep if I went without her."

Jennifer snapped her fingers in mock annoyance. "Darn. . . Bowling?"

Both had the same thought. _Easy and I can use my powers to play for me. _Raven shrugged, but had a smile. "Sure."

It took them only a few minutes to get to a nearby Bowling alley. Raven, of course, was put first. She frowned. She chucked the ball lightly, since her strength at full power would embed the ball in the far wall. It sped down the way, starting to veer left. One thought from Raven and a near invisible black swipe placed the ball back in the middle. She got a strike. She looked back at Jinx with a smirk.

The blonde had her mouth gaped. "Bullshit. . ."

Raven sat down. "Beginners luck?"

Jennifer snickered. "With all the crap that breaks around you, I'm surprised none of the pins was snapped in half." Good thing she looked forward as Raven blushed wildly. Jinx rolled her ball. It was relatively flawless as it hit the pins, but three were still tipping back and forth. A couple near invisible pink sparks and they all fell over. Jinx turned with a smile.

"That was good." Raven appraised.

Jinx faked modesty, looking away from Raven as her finger nails, pretending to inspect. "Yeah, you know. Maybe just luck, but it was nothing."

Raven got up, going monotone. "Smart ass. . ."

Jinx laughed hard. "I have to be, or you'd make me feel dumb!"

Raven stepped up with a ball. "I do anyway."

Jinx playfully pouted. "Bitch!"

The game played out. . . both having perfect games. Yes, they both cheated the whole time, but neither noticed the other's efforts. They of course got their picture on the wall, Jinx giving a Cheshire cat grin and Raven giving a blank, half closed eye stare.

The two walked through the park together. It was still only 5 in the afternoon, but they were calling it a day early. Jinx smiled. "Next time you ask to hang, make sure you sleep damn it."

Raven was already wiping her eye, but she smiled. "Noted." They hugged, Raven not hating the gesture anymore. Hell, her annoyance of the gesture only started because of Starfire's bone cracking hugs.

The next thing DID still take her by surprise, the peck on the cheek when pulling away. Jinx quickly stepped back as a red faced Raven swiped at her. Jinx laughed loudly. "Too easy."

"Not funny." Raven growled out, which made the other girl laugh harder.

"Whatever you say. BYE!" She ran off, leaving Raven alone.

Raven, after getting a color other than red on her face, looked around curious. _Hm. Nothing broke this time-_

A large series of cracks was heard as a tree fell over, thankfully hitting no one. People were surprised, muttering things about how a perfectly healthy looking tree would just fall in half. Raven sighed. _So close. . . so close._

. . . . .

She entered the common room. She found Robin addressing the team. "Good, you're here."

Raven nodded. She sat between Starfire and Cyborg, Beastboy was sitting on the other side of the metal man.

Raven questioned. "This is about Slade, isn't it?"

"Yes. This Slade Wilson guy does seem to fit the profile for the Slade we know."

Cyborg frowned. "Man, I thought we were done with that guy!"

Beast Boy scowled. "I know I'm not."

Robin held his hand up to quell any comments. "We don't know if he's planning anything or not. We did make a deal to stay away from each other, remember? If he ever rears his head around here, we take him down. He knows not to take us on anymore."

Beast Boy was shocked. "Wait, you're saying to-"

Robin restated his announcement. "YOU ALL will ignore it. I won't. Since I'm the only trained detective here, I'm the only one that will work on it. Though, only in spare time. He hasn't been a problem lately, so I'm not prioritizing him over current problems."

The group let out a collected sigh. No Robin snooping going on at 2 AM for four weeks straight, then. Starfire spoke up. "We have his name, though. What have we found so far?"

Robin nodded to Cyborg, the metallic man stepping up to the computer. A giant monitor lit up in the room, showing a dark shadowed picture of someone. "Slade Wilson, whether he's our Slade or not, is an ex military combat specialist. High class mercenary. I found some of the old HIVE stuff we got from the computurs we ransacked for information."

"When we took down Brother Blood's school?" Beast Boy clarified. "Do bad guys just all have a club?"

Raven asked. "What information did the HIVE have?"

Robin answered. "Slade has apparently worked along with the HIVE many times for several years before our team was created. His call sign was 'Deathstroke'."

Beast Boy shivered. "Not a PG name. . . Dude, that means he's-"

"A certified, and very famous murderer." Robin finished in a foreboding tone. "Assassination. Bounty Hunting. Hired bodyguard. I even managed to get Batman to tell me that they've traded several blows against each other."

Star gasped as Cyborg stared at him wide eyed. "Uh, Rob? You think that might be why Slade targeted you in the first place?"

Starfire added. "His interactions with the HIVE also make sense, seeing how one of the first teams he sent to attack us was the HIVE team of Jinx, Mammoth, and Gizmo."

Robin answered. "Both counts seem accurate, but we could always be wrong."

Cyborg changed the slides on the monitor. The picture showed a profile of Slade with a full orange helmet, both eyes there. "This is Slade, about three years before we started to go up against him."

Beast Boy shrugged. "So? He has both eyes. Maybe he lost one on a mission or something."

Robin nodded. "Right. Except the incident where he lost his eye. . . was caused by Brother Blood."

The group took that in stride at this point. Raven commented. "So that might explain why Slade stopped using the HIVE agents after it became clear the HIVE had a new headmaster. Bad blood between them."

Cyborg shook his head. "Heavy stuff, guys. Says the incident resulted in the deaths of Slade's family as well. Definitely bad blood."

Beast Boy tilted his head with a frown. "His whole family." His ears pointed up as he pointed a finger at Robin. "He wanted you as an apprentice to take his legacy, right? . . . and when he failed to get you. . ."

Robin finished. "He took Terra instead." Raven could sense Robin had wanted to avoid the subject of the blonde girl. Beast Boy's mood immediately soured.

Beast Boy muttered. "I don't care if he lost his family. What he did was still messed up!"

Robin continued. "The only thing we still don't know was his over all goal. Going over his history, he never took an interest in being the planning man. He was a hired soldier. Worked for everyone and made a big name. I don't understand why he put so much effort into making a huge empire of robotic troops. . . then there's wondering how Cinderblock came into it."

"Can we not use the sources of the news to locate him?" Star asked.

Robin shook his head. "No. He gave them enough information to be credible, giving him a spot on their program, but everything else he covered up. Tried retracing where he called from, but it was an empty location when we got there. He planned ahead. Even more confusing is how he hasn't resurfaced. It's been nearly a year, and from my sources he hasn't made a reappearance in the criminal world either."

Silence fell in the room. They had nothing more to add to the discussion. Cyborg grinned big. "Alright, who's ready for pork rib covered steak with-" The alarm went of. Cyborg immediately hunched with a grumble. "-with a side of butt whooping on WHOEVER STOPPED ME FROM COOKING!"

Robin grunted. "Dr. Light."

The group turned to Raven. She blankly stared back before sighing. "Fine. I'll be back in half an hour."

. . . . .

Jinx almost dreaded coming in to see her team. Sure, she was always annoyed while dealing with them, but the current dilemma was killing her. However, this was the final day they gave her to come to a decision. _Come on. I'm a bad guy. I'm SUPPOSED to be ferocious. People SHOULD die when I fight, so why don't they? _She sighed heavily. "And why am I the only one against it?"

She lands in the alleyway to enter the HIVE base. "Problems still?"

She halts. _AGAIN?! _She turned to see Red X leisurely sitting on top of a closed dumpster. Interestingly enough, he had a bitten apple in his hand. "What are you? A stalker now?"

He shrugged. "Just eager to put in my two cents." She was about reply, but he cut her off. "Your team wants to murder people. You know that right?"

She stops. "Yeah."

"And you're okay with it?"

Defensively, she crosses her arms and looks away. "I'm a bad guy. Why wouldn't I be?" The answer made him laugh. "WHAT?!"

He settled down. He began spinning the apple in his hand on one finger. "You're lying through your teeth and don't even know it." She glared at him.

"I don't see you giving these lectures to the rest of my team."

"Not worth my time."

"And I am?" She gave him a skeptic look.

He shrugged. "Don't know yet, but you are the only one that might listen." She considered that statement for a while. "Plus, you're the only one with any relationship with a civilian." She teleported from sight as a hex bolt hit the dumpster he sat on. He appeared behind her, but her hand was already pointed at him with pink energy gathered.

"You've been spying on me?" She narrowed her gaze. "If you make any threats-"

He chuckled. "Oh, you're expecting me to make her the next Lois Lane? Not my interest. Now, tell me. If someone DID threaten her, what would you do for real?" Her energy disappeared as she thought. He added. "Protect her?"

"Well, yeah! Fighting for someone you're friends with-"

"Is and awfully good guy thing to do." He replied. She glared again as he chuckled. "Give me a good hour or so to show you something." With that he hopped off the walls to a nearby roof.

Jinx defiantly stood still for a moment. "God damn it!" She hopped up after him in the same pattern.

. . . . .

"HAHAHAHAHAA! FEAR NOT CITY! SOON YOU SHALL SEE THE LIGHT!" A bright yellow beam blasts a car away as he cackles.

Up above, two figures watch. Jinx scoffs. "Seriously? You're going to teach me using this guy?"

Red X merely nods. She expected a comment, but soon payed attention.

Dr. Light shot out blasts into more cars. In his off hand was a large back practically bursting with the Benjamins. His smile wiped away as he frantically he saw a man step in front of his family protectively. Dr. Light snickered. "You shield yourselves from the Light? You dare live in darkness?!" He fires a blast at the defenseless group. However, the blast went right by the father, striking the child.

Jinx's eyes widened. "The fuck?! What was the point in that?" She watched the child appear, still alive, but heavily burned. "Sadistic bastard. . ."

Red X nodded. "You'll see in a moment."

Dr. Light then monologued. "SEE?! That is what happens when you shield the children from the light!" He then charged a new blast. "Now to punish, and this will be a much harder blow." The 'doctor' released the blast at the man. "Now, WALK TOWARDS THE LIGHT!"

Jinx almost reflectively dove in, but Red X held her back. "Watch."

A black energy dome appeared over the family, blocking the blast with ease. Raven appeared in between the doctor and the civilians. Light immediately paled, but showed anger. "You?!"

Raven ignored him, turning around to the family. The parents, crying, tried to keep her away as well, but she said something that calmed them. She stepped to the child, coating them in energy. Moments later, she took the energy off as the child got up, nearly entirely healed. A few soft words were spoken as the family thanked the titan and sprinted off.

Light snickered. "So, dark girl. Are you ready to face the dark."

Red X spoke again. "This is one of the things I wanted to show you."

Jinx looked down. "The. . . fuck?. . ."

Raven turned around with four glowing red eyes. Darkness exploded out of her in the shape of a massive demonic raven that had matching eyes. Dr. Light frantically blasted at the dark energy, but the darkness ripped through, bashing Light into a wall. Dozen's of tendrils of darkness smash into him before tossing him into a car, denting the large machine with him. The darkness suddenly overwhelmed him as he screamed and screamed like a frightened child. The darkness disappeared in a snap, leaving a pale as paper Light on the ground with obvious broken bones and in the fetal position mumbling things Jinx couldn't make out.

Raven was back to normal eyes, but Jinx could see from the roof that she still shook with anger. The hooded Titan gripped Light by the neck and obviously threatened him, making him quiver in fear. She wrapped metal from a nearby car around him to hold him still as the police arrived.

Jinx just stared wide eyed. "What. . ."

"Lesson number one." X started. "When you cross that line fully, you pull the heroes down with you. When that happens. . . THAT can happen, or even worse. You may pull the hero too far down, and they cross that line to stop you for good." He looked at Jinx. "Make sure you understand what you guys might be getting yourselves into."

She nodded dumbly, then looked back at Raven who disappeared. _How much does she hold back? _

"So, are you willing to listen to more?" Red X started. She nodded dumbly yet again. "Alright then. Come on, Lucky."

. . . . .

Jinx and X land on the Wayne Enterprises building of Jump City. Jinx looked around. "Okay, so what other 'lessons' you have for me?"

X looked around for a moment. "Hold on." He teleported. He then came back in. "Deactivated the roof camera."

Jinx tilted her head. "Why was there a camera up here?"

X shrugged. "Titans fought here once. Caused half the 'WAYNE' letters to get destroyed."

"Riiiiight." She answered. "By the way, I'm noticing a lack of X puns."

He smugly replied. "Lucky you."

"Ha Ha, now get on with it." She started rudely.

He held his hands up defensively. "Impatient! Okay, let me ask you. Had Raven not shown up, what would you have done?"

Jinx looked anyway but X, saying nonchalantly. "Nothing. . ."

"Wrong."

"FINE! I was gonna help." She snapped angrily.

"Alright. Next question, could you picture yourself in Light's shoes?"

She thought. She wasn't sure. "I don't know. Why are you so protective of life all the sudden?"

"I don't care about life being lost. I just don't do it myself."

"Why?"

"It would be too easy. When you cross that line, it's gone for you. Killing becomes easier, and you never recover from that. Not fully, anyway. Light tried to kill that family because it became that easy for him. Like it or not, that WILL be you if you decide to cross that line."

". . ." She doesn't reply.

He continued. "Not that killing is always so bad. After all, it can solve a lot of problems, but it also causes a lot more if you don't think about your actions."

"I have a question." Jinx states. He nods. "Are you even a bad guy?"

He laughs, making her glare at him. "What sort of monster psycho actually considers themselves bad. I look out for myself, but make sure I don't owe anyone. Everyone's the hero of their own story." He crosses his arms. "So why are you so determined to call yourself 'bad'?" He waited a full minute for her answer, receiving none. "Nice chat." He disappears, leaving her alone.

She stares into the distance, confused. Her phone rang, startling her.

. . . . .

Raven entered her room. She sat onto her bed, laying back. She stared at the ceiling. _I can't believe I snapped so easily. _She remembered seeing him throw that attack at the family. He eyes momentarily flared red, but she slammed them shut. _Heartless bastard. It's a wonder why I even let him live! _She stopped herself there. She suddenly felt afraid. _Okay. . . okay. . . calm down. . . _

"Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos." She muttered three times. She slowly reached down, entering a number on her communicator, setting it on speaker as she laid it down beside her.

The number picked up. "Hey. . ."

Raven noticed the tone. Seemingly depressed. "Don't you sound happy." She tried her usual sarcasm, but it came out bitter.

Jinx chuckled on the other end. "Long night, but why aren't you asleep." Her voice got some measure of humor back. "You'll pass out on the spot next time I see you."

Raven smirked slightly. "Long night, too. Can't sleep. Too much on my mind."

"Like?" the question made Raven pause. What the hell could she say? Hey, I just went half demon on a guy for being a monster and let the thought cross my mind that I should have killed him? Oh, that would be a bad day, but that did make her think about something else. _Why am I talking to her? Sooner or later, I'll have to tell her stuff, just like the Titans. That's too dangerous, but. _"There. . . was an incident downtown."

The voice cut in with intense worry. "You're not talking about the Dr. Light thing! Do not tell me you were there!"

Raven was taken back by that. She decided to lie. "Uh, yeah. I saw Raven take him down." For some reason, saying her own name sounded funny. "Is that what's bothering you?"

Jinx's voice was heard, cursing to herself. "Jesus, you could've gotten killed."

Raven suppressed the urge to laugh. Dr. Light killing her. Right, and Superman is a ballerina too? Then she lit up in worry. "Wait, you were there too? It hasn't appeared on the news yet!"

". . . yeah."

Raven smacked her forehead. "You've been in this city how long? Shouldn't you know to stay away?"

"Oh? And what happened to miss 'I stay out of Batman's troubles from Gotham'?"

Raven wasn't in the mood to argue. "Fine, we're both reckless stupid teenagers." Raven then asked. "Why are you upset."

Jinx's reply came soon. "Caught myself thinking Raven should've killed him. . . Then realized what I thought."

Raven was stunned there a moment. She wanted to tear Jennifer a new one, but knew it would be hypocritical. ". . . same."

Jinx chuckled slightly. "We're a little alike, aren't we?"

"Yeah, I just needed to talk about it." She sighed. "Killing isn't the answer."

Jinx sighed too. She already saw what X was talking about. "Killing just leads to more. . . I wish the bad guys didn't kill. It'll take the good guys with them if either side isn't careful enough."

Raven was a bit surprised by that. It made sense. That one action from Light almost tempted her to do the same. "Thanks. I needed to hear your opinion."

Jinx chuckled. "Yeah, well. I'll have some more problems soon to take my mind off of it."

Raven tilted her head. "Why?" 

Jinx replied in the first truly happy tone in the conversation. "I'll be living on my own soon. Couldn't be more happy about it."

Raven decided she shouldn't pry into why. "If you want it." She then remembered her earlier thoughts. Should she be talking to Jennifer? Should she get attached? The thought settled itself. "You know. . . my birthday's coming up soon."

. . . . .

_**GNN NEWS: Lore Prince Live.**_

The familiar reporter came into view. "Good evening and welcome to Lori Prince Live. Tonight's subject: Justice! Has it gone too far! Joining me today is a news host of GBS news, G. Gordon Godfrey, host of The G. Gordon Godfrey Show!" He revealed a middle aged cold every man with light brown hair and a neat dark blue suit and black tie. "Gordon, gotta say, it's nice to have someone here who can understand my position."

The man laughed and spoke in an eloquent. "Wwwwell, it's certainly lovely to have any time to show the people today the truth of things."

Lori turned to the other side, revealing a professional brunette woman. "And also joining us today, we have famous, or infamous from your point of view, reporter, Lois Lane! Lovely to have you. You're looking good as ever."

She gave him a look that said 'you're REALLY hitting on me? Cute'. She replied. "It's an honor to share time with others of the trade."

Lori opened up the topic. "Tonight, there was a tragic attack in Jump City done by the villain, Dr. Light. Fortunately, Teen Titan Raven managed to step in, stopping the horrific execution of a family before defeating the villain. However, some might say-"

He was cut off by Godfrey. "It's easy to see the concern here. Just show the clip of how she took him down!" A quick clip of Raven's tendrils smacking Light into a car, denting it, played. "This man, while obviously a criminal, was given no due process as he was nearly mutilated by this woman!"

"Oh please." Lois Lane scoffed.

"You defend the merciless beating of this man?"

Once again she scoffed at him. "Merciless? Hardly. Raven has defeated that villain more times than anyone of us cares to count. I don't buy for a second she would kill him. She, as well as many people, would know what he can take. He tried to kill defenseless people. Of course, she would beat him into submission. What would you have her do?"

Godfrey nearly stood, righteously angry. "That man was manhandled with broken bones! When the police stop a suspect, they do so under the law. This 'titan' is obviously disrespecting that, and us."

Lois muttered. "Last I checked, the police make too many mistakes. But okay, let's play it your way. Let's say she simply made a mistake with the force she used. That simply makes her human like anyone else."

"THAT?!" Godfrey gets up, a picture of the four red eyed raven made of black energy appeared. "IS NOT HUMAN! If she were human, she would do the right thing, and let the law happen."

Lori cut in. "You're saying that she should not have used that much power. Let it play out longer? Some say that would get more people hurt. She DID save a little girl from burns through her body."

Godfrey sat back down with a scowl. "Yeeesss. Saving the little girrrrl. Let's show that shall we?" The slide came up, showing Raven engulf the girl in black. Indeed the girl came out nearly entirely healed. "Now, what's wrong with this picture?" He asks. "What exactly did she do to that girl? Tell me."

Lane came back in. "Saved her life!"

"And did god knows what else to her. We know nothing about this 'giiirrrrl', Raven, and yet she does things that obviously show she isn't human. How can we simply take their word that the little girl is safe. That should have been OUR doctor's call. The girl could suffer from any sort of ailment or other worldly curse thanks to your 'hero'."

Lois shook her head. "And what proof do you have of that claim? What about the family that, thanks to Raven, is still whole?"

Godfrey pulled up the picture of Raven with four red eyes. He smirked with his hands up in the air. "I rest my case."

. . . . .

The TV shattered apart. Jinx just shook her head at it. "Stupid jackass." She walked through the HIVE base with a large backpack and a bag full of the jewels she stole. She takes a last look around. "All of em' are jackasses. They're outta luck now."

She entered the main room, the only room where an exit was. Gizmo walked up with a smile. "Hey did you see that public thrashing of that munching witch's rep?"

Jinx merely snapped her fingers, a pink hex appearing from the side, smacking the midget aside.

"HEY! What what that fucking for?!"

Jinx replied simply. "My answer is no."

The others in the room were confused until they knew what she was talking about. The room was quiet. Mammoth broke the silence. "What's so bad about it? We make a few people get crushed and our rep goes up. We possibly kill a titan too."

"No." She answers. She steps around the gaping mouth Gizmo and heads for the exit.

Billy asked another Billy. "She ain't serious, is she?" The other replied. "Seems so, Billy." The cried in unison. "Come on, darlin! You can adjust." A third Billy asked. "What are you? A good guy?"

She stopped at the door. "Haven't decided yet. For now, I'm just sticking to myself." She grins at them. "I'm looking out for number one."


	4. Chapter 4

_**Yes. I know I stole a joke from SepticMind. It's too damn hilarious not to use. You'll know it when you see it. LOL**_

"Raven?" She heard it faintly. She couldn't think much of it since she couldn't make it out well.

. . . . .

"Raaaaven?" There it is again. She knows that voice, but her mind doesn't function enough to tell her.

. . . . .

"Dude! Wake up!" Okay, that sealed it.

Raven jolted awake from the shaking of her green friend. After her eyes adjust and she sees straight, she sees Beast Boy, or rather jumbled images since he's still jerking her around. "I'm up. . ."

He stopped, dropping her with sweat falling down his face and an awkward smile. "Oh! Well, you needed to get up."

She sat upright in her bed, holding her head a moment. She felt great. Best sleep ever- Oh. "What time is it?"

"Dude, its like 1:30! I've never heard of you sleeping past 8. We already stopped a bad guy without you since we couldn't wake you up."

She shook herself to wake up more. "What?! Why didn't you shake me awake then?!"

He seemed to shrink from her outburst. "Well, we had the idea, but we know your dream problems lately. . . plus it was only Ding Dong Daddy and Johnny Rancid. We took em' no problem."

She sighed. "Great- . . . Beast Boy. . . you realize you entered my room without permission again." She suddenly radiated black energy.

"B-bu-but we were worried you were stuck asleep!"

She could tell. "You're lying. Only Starfire is allowed in here without permission. You thought it'd be funny if you did it."

She suddenly got a lot more nervous. "Yea-" He's suddenly turned into a fly. He suddenly changes back. "Hey! Don't morph me-" He's turned back into a fly as she catches him in the air by the wings.

She says, holding him in front of her face. "No one. Goes. In. my room." She flicked him away while opening the door with her soul self. Beast Boy changes back to normal just as he flies out and hits the wall upside down.

Outside, Cyborg shook his head. "Called it."

Starfire walked in from the halls. "Friends, I have come to wake Raven."

Cyborg pointed at the dazed BB. "He did it for you."

Star took one look and didn't even react. "She is okay then?"

Cyborg shrugged. "Guess so." He walked off, dragging Beast Boy by the leg.

"So heartless, all of you." Beast Boy said in a sickly voice.

Starfire knocked on the door. "Friend Raven?" The door opened for her. She smiled as she flew into the room. "Friend! It is wonderful to see you up and ener-" Raven sat, holding her head. "-getic. . ." She floats over to Raven. "What is wrong?"

Raven opened her eyes. "The dream didn't happen. None of my emotion counterparts had anything to do with it, so it wasn't a product of my powers. I don't know why they would stop all the sudden." She felt a deep pit in her stomach. "I don't think it's as good as you think."

Starfire thought a moment. "OH! I wished to speak with you about your new friend!" Raven took one look at Star and dropped her head in defeat. "Please, Raven. Tell us about them! Will you introduce us? Do they like the mall? Do they think well of us? Are they into ponies? And Silkies? And-"

Raven's hand clamped over Star's mouth. "I'll answer in order. Not anytime soon. They did ask me to go, but I thought you'd hate it if I went without you. Apparently, yes. I don't know. Probably not. What's the last one?"

Star squeals. "And how long have you been significant others?" Raven choked on air up and out of her bed.

Raven got up, red in the face. "We are not. Why would you think that?"

Star looked down, seeing Raven's still open communicator on her messed up bed. She then pointed to Raven, who was still in her cloak. "The open communicator means you were on the phone with them, since you were not on there with any of us, and you didn't take the time to remove your cloak, so that means you talked to them until you were too tired to care. For you, they must be very special for you to call them at that hour."

Raven just stared amazed at Star. ". . . wow. . . Robin's rubbing off on you." _Though Robin's also much more accepting of things lately. Guess it goes both ways. _

Star giggled. "Thank you. Now, who is he?"

"Um. . ."

"Have you and he done the kissing?!" Star's eyes shined and sparkled.

"N-"

"Or the holding of hands on a walk in the park at sunset!"

"It's a girl."

Star blinked once, but didn't lose stride. "YAY! Three girls and three boys is more even for the group hanging in."

Raven sighed. "'Hanging out', and she doesn't know I'm Raven."

Star tilted her head. "I see." Her eyes shined brighter than ever as the alien girl let out a big grin and pleading eyes to Raven.

The demon sighed, looking away. "Fine. You'll be the first to meet her."

Everyone in the tower heard the earth shattering 'EEEE' squeal of joy.

. . . . .

"So my friend thinks we're dating." Raven states bluntly. The two sat at a bench in the park.

Jennifer looks at her for before biting her lip, shoulders jolting.

Raven sighs, closing her eyes. "Go ahead."

Jinx blasts into a roaring laughter. She honestly sounded like she was going to suffocate. "You're kidding? I feel bad for you!" She roared in laughter, getting some stares from passerby or two. She then winked. "You can always reconsider that offer." She then bent over laughing again. She calms down after a minute, seeing the red on Raven's cheek, but the rest of Raven's face was turned away. "What?"

Raven refused to look. "I didn't exactly deny it. . ." She expected more laughter, but none came. She slowly turned to see 'Jennifer' red faced.

"O-oh!" was all she got out.

Raven could feel her emotions. Her happiness spiked, as well as her timid side. Her courage side bottomed out. This caused Raven so chuckle. "Really? The moment you get what you want to hear and you fall apart?"

Jinx flushed red and got defensive. "You hush! I don't wanna hear it."

They sat a moment in silence. Raven looked anywhere but her. "Soooo how does it work?"

Jinx tilted her head. "Huh?"

"Any of it."

Jinx put her hand to her chin. "Well, I guess that depends on whether you want to be in a relationship or not. I mean come on. Someone like you has to have had a couple boyfriends. What's your number at? 4 or 5?"

Raven just shakes her head without looking.

Jinx shrugged. "Higher or lower."

Raven finally snapped at her, defensive. "Do I look like some. . ."

"Whore? no. so the number is lower." Jinx thought. "2?"

"Warmer." Raven sighed.

"3" Jinx was confident.

"Colder." Raven muttered full of sarcasm. "You suck at this."

"You've seriously only had 1 boyfriend?"

_DO I count Malchior? Sure I hung out a lot and her gave compliments, but back then I shut every possibility out, thinking the world would end. No. _"Getting warmer." She muttered.

Jinx opened her mouth with her eyes narrowed. "Wait. so. . ."

Raven just gave a 'mhm'.

"Wow. Never been someone's first." Jinx thought, then got excited. "I can be your first everything!"

BAAAM! A loud cracking concrete sound was heard from the other side of the park. Only Raven could tell she just destroyed a giant slab of concrete. _Get it together! Get it together! _She heard the sound of wood cracking. She looked down seeing the bench they were sitting on start to crack. "Hey, let's go somewhere else!"

Jinx was still looking in the direction of the sound. "What the hell WAS that?"

Raven jerked her hand like a mother tugging her child along. "I said come on!"

. . . . .

The two walked through the city, Jinx having stopped and gotten two giant cotton candies. Jinx's of course was pink. And, of course, Raven's was blue.

"So you said last night you were on your own now? What exactly happened?" Raven asked, immediately sensing an uncomfortable nerves off in Jinx. "What's wrong?"

Jinx thought over what to say. _Should I tell her? No, that wouldn't go well. But she knows me. She might like it. Plus, if Red X knows about her, it probably isn't too hard for someone to locate her through me. She might need to know to stay out of trouble, but. . . _She chickened out. "Difference of opinion. . . they didn't support my beliefs, so I needed to get out of there."

Raven could tell that wasn't the whole thing, but Raven wasn't one to pry. _Maybe she'd be more honest with me if I was more honest to her? _She looked around at the city. _ I am a Titan after all, and her favorite from what she says, but what if she just ends up selling my se- Yeah no, She's not like that. _The internal argument went for a while when the two came across a crowd. Raven's thoughts were interrupted as she noticed the hundred or so people. "What's going on?"

Jinx's shoulders fell. "It's a reaction crowd. Basically a bunch of people who stand around to argue publicly something from the news."

Raven tilted her head. "And when people disagree?"

Jinx's stare went blank. "They usually get run off by the majority. These people are usually the sheep that follow whatever the news says. I can guess the topic."

Raven raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Jinx looked at her, surprised. "You didn't see it? How early did you sleep?"

Raven went red a moment. "Basically the second we said bye on the phone."

Jinx nodded. "Makes sense then. It's abou-"

A man stood up with a microphone. "Here yee. Here yee. Here yee. You all know why we are here!" A loud cheer answered. "You all know the 'monster' that lives in our midst. For those of you new here, this is what we mean." A giant monitor behind them lit up.

From it, a familiar broadcast played. Godfrey appeared on screen.

_"THAT?!" Godfrey gets up, a picture of the four red eyed raven made of black energy appeared. "IS NOT HUMAN!"_

Raven's eyes widened impossibly wide as she stepped back. Jinx simply glared at the screen.

_"And did god knows what else to her. We know nothing about this 'giiirrrrl', Raven, and yet she does things that obviously show she isn't human. How can we simply take their word that the little girl is safe. That should have been OUR doctor's call. The girl could suffer from any sort of ailment or other worldly curse thanks to your 'hero'." _

_Godfrey pulled up the picture of Raven with four red eyes. He smirked with his hands up in the air. "I rest my case." _

Raven's vision hit the ground and didn't leave it. Several people cried out, Raven tuning out everything they said.

Jinx turned and saw Raven, instantly regretting the direction they took. _Why is it affecting her so much? _She looked at the picture. _Is she scared of Raven? _She rubs Raven's back lightly as she debates whether to get up and speak or just leave. "Come on. I still have some stuff in the city to show ya." She tried to sound happy, but the tone didn't reach Raven.

". . . yeah." Raven said silently. Jinx only registered it by reading her lips.

The man on the mic called out. "Do you agree with these statements by G. Gordon Godfrey?!"

The crowd cried unanimously. "NO!"

Raven stopped dead. She and Jinx whipped around. Raven's eyes had begun to tear up, but now she couldn't react to anything. She was stunned frozen. _They. . . are on my side?_

The monitor played again.

_Once again Lois scoffed at him. "Merciless? Hardly. Raven has defeated that villain more times than anyone of us cares to count. I don't buy for a second she would kill him. She, as well as many people, would know what he can take. He tried to kill defenseless people. Of course, she would beat him into submission. What would you have her do?" _

_Lois muttered. "Last I checked, the police make too many mistakes. But okay, let's play it your way. Let's say she simply made a mistake with the force she used. That simply makes her human like anyone else." _

Raven couldn't move. Suddenly, something happened that hasn't occurred since the one time Starfire got to take Raven's body for a joyride. Something exploded out of pure happiness. Jinx looked at one of the alleys, but couldn't find what it was. Raven didn't even seem to notice it. Raven started breathing heavily.

Jinx looked at her. "You don't look so good. You wanna head out?"

Raven simply nodded. Truly amazed.

. . . . .

The two sat at the bay, watching the sun set. Jinx had taken the time to try describe Titan's Tower in further detail than they could see, saying she'd been closer to it before. Some of the things described were even new to Raven. Guess some things just miss your attention when you're too used to seeing it all the time.

The two sat in silence for nearly a full half hour. Jinx started. "So I have a question."

"When do you not?" Raven retorted.

"Yeah, Ha ha. But seriously. What was it about the crowd that got to you so much?"

Raven quickly thought about telling her she was Raven, but decided it was too soon. "I. . . know what it's like to be separated and ridiculed. The crowds actions, at first, seemed a lot like what I've experienced. However, their turn to defending. . . Raven. . . it just moved me."

Jinx wondered about that for a moment. "Who could ever ridicule you? Do I need to beat someone's ass?"

Raven chuckled. "It's not your problem to deal with."

Jinx looked at her. "Please tell me?"

Raven's smile disappeared. "I. . ." Jinx smiled and took Raven's hand. The empath thought about how to edit what she said. "It was problems inherited from my father."

Jinx thought a moment. She could hear the sudden emotionless depression when Raven spoke that sentence. "How?" Her eyebrows came together as her eyes narrowed.

Raven spoke again. "For starters. I was born from rape."

Jinx's mouth hung open a bit. She did NOT expect that. "I-'m. . . I mean."

Raven sighed. "This is a heavily edited version, but my mother was a homeless woman in Gotham City. She needed a home and food. Of course, someone came along and offered it. . ."

Jinx already felt a pit in her stomach. "It's Gotham. You can't trust that."

"My mother found that out the hard way. The group that 'helped' her was a cult." Raven said with a far off expression. Jinx was left silent. "I was raised my a couple monks in a monastery. . . The despised my father. My mother avoided me for my whole life. I was only taken care of out of obligation. The moment I became old enough, I left. The rest you know."

Jinx was stunned. She couldn't even hardly speak. She gave Raven's hand a comforting squeeze. "Okay, so you have all the reason in the world to be sheltered."

"My friends have helped a lot with that." Raven added with a small smile.

Jinx smirked. "I'd like to meet them sometime."

Raven smiled. "You might. I did promise one of them would be the first to meet you."

Jinx looked at her serious for a moment. "But. . . you sound like you KNOW your father. You're seriously telling me he stuck around without getting in trouble? Couldn't you get, like, a retrainin' order or something?"

Creepy moment in 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. Raven whips her head down screaming in roaring laughter. She couldn't steady herself as she leaned on Jinx, who stared wide eyed with an awkward smile.

"Did I just break you or something?" Jinx asked awkwardly.

Raven clutched her sides, never having laughed this hard. "I'm-" She chuckles some. "Sorry. Your comment took me by surprise."

Jinx smiled more naturally. "Don't get me wrong. I love your laugh. You should do it more often, but damn. I kinda wish I got the joke."

Raven's laughter died. She was back to a frown. "Hopefully not anytime soon."

Jinx's grip tightened. _COME ON! She's being open and honest! Just tell her! I'm Jinx! I'm an INFAMOUS SUPER VILLAIN! _Jinx sighed. The sun was nearly done setting, but there was light out still. She looked around, seeing a few people in the area. "I have something to show you." She barely gets out.

Raven could immediately sense the fear in her, frowning. "Whatever it is, I can't really judge."

Jinx gets up, tugging Raven along. "You say that now. . ."

. . . . .

_I'm so not used to stairs. _Raven marched up the fire exit up the side of a tall apartment complex. She still sensed 'Jen's' discomfort the whole way. It seemed to be getting worse. She could actually see Jennifer's legs shaking when she wasn't moving them. They got to the roof of the complex, roughly eleven stories. Pretty big. The roof, of course, was completely blank.

Jinx walked out into the empty space. Jinx was panicking. _This is not going to go well. This is not going to go well. . . But I should get it done now. _

Raven took Jen's hand with a smile. "Don't be so nervous."

Jinx turned to see 'Rachael' shaking as well. "Why are you nervous? I'm the one with the surprise." She tried to smile but it looked terrible.

Raven looked away. "I can tell how nervous you are, so I'm going to go ahead and show you my own secret to."

Both thought in unison. _Whatever you show me, I'm sure mines worse anyway. I just hope you can accept me. _

Jinx thinks a moment. "Oh screw it." She pulled Raven in as their lips meet. Raven blushes heavily, doing her best not to pull away. Of course, a large bang was heard echoing in the alley. Raven tried to search for it, but Jinx held her there as they both eased into the kiss.

Both thought at the same time. _Here it goes. _Raven channeled some of her power, her hair returning to violet along with her eyes. Jinx's off hand stops clinging to Raven as she unhooks the necklace altering her appearance. She takes it off. Her hair turning pink.

They stayed there a moment, enjoying themselves. Finally, they separated. Jinx was first to open her eyes. "R-. . .R-. . . Ra-. . .ven?" The voice sounded barely audible.

Raven, having expected a bad reaction being the pessimist she is, opened her eyes to look at the ground, still nod seeing who she had kissed. "Yeah. . ." She felt intense fear. Confusion to an extensive degree. Shock of course. All sorts of twisted mixed emotions. "I kept my identity hidden because I had to. I'm sorry. . . don't hate me." The last part was almost impossible to hear if not for the close proximity.

The shaky voice replied. "N-. . . no. . . I don't blame you. . . I'm guilty too." her hands gripped Raven's civilian jacket by the collar jolting her. A hurt voice crying out. "WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE ENEMIES YOU IDIOT!"

Raven was now looking directly at her. There were tears of shock in Jinx's eyes. Raven's own body stiffened. "Jin. . . Jennif. . . Jen-Jin. . ." She couldn't even finish the name correctly before her powers struck. A large panel on the rooftop split and cracked upward. Another boom sounded in another alleyway. The bricks on the sides of the building and all around them cracked as it shook Jinx.

Jinx's mind barely registered it, but then she thought. . . _Oh my god, that makes so much sense now. _

Raven's own mind was as scattered as a a jigsaw puzzle. _I. . my first. . . with her. . . but. . . _

They both noticed their close near cuddle as they jolted backwards. Raven tripping and falling flat on her back. She sat up to see Jinx pointing an accusing finger. Anger came off Jinx. "Was this supposed to be some kind of trick? Tell me!"

Raven radiated anger. "ME?! You're the one that would do this!"

Jinx scoffed. "You bastards snuck Cyborg into our school and wrecked it from the inside. That's YOUR game!"

Raven was about to retort, but her emotions were soaring out of control. She quickly clutched at her head. She quickly spoke. "AzarathMetrionZinthosAzarathMetrionZinthosAzarathMetrionZinthos."

Jinx in annoyed anger picks Raven up by the collar, her eyes shining pink with energy in her off hand.

Raven snarled and looked down at Jinx with four red eyes. However, Jinx had seen it already and, frankly, didn't care. Raven gathered obsidian energy in her own off hand as the two prepared to attack each other.

Both stopped in their tracks with a suddenly storming boom overhead. The shock stopped Raven's emotions, her eyes going back to normal glowing white. Both girls looked up.

The entire sky turned a crimson red, darker than Raven's dreams because of the night time sky.

From the red above, a single speck falls. The red fades away as the two girls follow the speck as it descends towards the ground. It landed far outside the city in the forests. . . until an atomic level sized explosion came from the landing site. The shockwave rocks the city, exploding the glass off buildings and blowing heavy winds on Raven and Jinx.

The two looked at the sight with wide eyes. Raven's hero instincts kicked in as her powers morphed around her. When they withdrew, she was in her classic cowl and leotard. She was about to blast off before remembering. She looked back at Jinx. Said pink haired girl was shocked a moment when they locked eyes before she stubbornly scowled. "What? Go do you hero thing, Titan."

Raven hesitated before she lifted off into the air and sped towards ground zero.

Jinx watched her go with a scowl before it turned to just a frown, then she looked like you might as well have kicked her puppy in front of her.

. . . . .

Raven floated over the rocky crater. It easily would have destroyed the city had it landed directly on it. Whatever it was, Raven was set on finding it. The red sky. . . _Just like my dream. Why did it falter? _She continued to search. _Nothing. . . there HAS to be something. That was definitely magic. There should be a trace somewhere. _She landed on the ground itself, kneeling down to feel. Upon her tough, the entire landscape of the crater pulsed a light red. She retracted her hand quickly, checking to make sure nothing happened to it.

_That energy. . . Let's try this. _She quickly turned to her empathy. She reached out far around her. The ground pulsed again, and she sensed it. _Fury? Rage? That energy is definitely coming from someone. It's alive. _She followed the pulses as the energy, when visible for short bursts, flowed towards the center of the crater.

As the pulses went through. . . _Fear. Reaction. This power isn't full under control. It almost feels like when someone has the fight-or-flight reflex. _She continued to walk. The pulses began to happen more often, once every ten seconds.

Finally, something kicked off her radar. _Wh-what is this? _She walks through smoking debris, seeing a figure in the distance. The figure had torn up black pants coated in blood. It had a worn shredded red shirt with the sleeves ripped off. The figure was bleeding from a shredded side and down its arms. The skin tone was a regular white/tan tone. The hair was bright orange. The man was about half a foot taller than Raven.

Raven's eyes widened. _He's. . . the one that was calling me. _"Who are you?"

No response came. The man seemed to be jolting around slightly. Almost like a seizure. There were low grunts and sharp intakes of breath.

Raven attempted to feel his feelings. _Nothing. The fight or flight again. _"Who are you? Where did you come from?"

No response. The jolting became more violent as did the grunts.

Raven finally realized as she floated up a bit, her cloak fully hiding her whole body. Her eyes glowed white. "You're not even conscious, are you?" _His body is operating purely on instinct. _

The man violently threw his head up, leaning backwards and unleashed a storm of previously suppressed laughter. He took a big intake of breath before letting out a second round of it. He kept going as the ground pulsated again. This time, it showed the energy morph up into his body. His body stopped jerking from the laughter as he tilted his head down. Raven's body went cold, seeing the psychotic grin with four nightmarish familiar red eyes.

She sensed the intention before he moved. She whips her arms out. "Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos!"

Obsidian energy coats the ground as it all explodes upward, nothing more than a distraction. She sends her power into the debris, gripping the man all over with her energy. The debris clears, showing the black energy gripping him all over his body, painting him a pure black color. However, he still had a smirk. Suddenly, he starts inching steps forward, struggling and overpowering Raven's hold on him.

She grits her teeth, grunting to hold him down as he lets out a low throaty chuckle. The ground pulses with the red energy. Once it flows into he, crimson energy rips and blasts out of him, creating another large explosion in the middle of the crater.

. . . . .

Jinx still sat on the same roof as before. She stared at the new explosion. She didn't know if she should cheer or feel horrible. She sat onto her but and stared blankly at the distant fight.

A filtered chuckle broke her melancholy. "You know? That was far more entertaining than I expected."

She didn't even turn to him or speak. She held her hand out behind her and annihilated the back half of the roof with a massive hex. Unfortunately for her, black boots land beside her.

"Guess I was the lucky one just now."

Jinx's expression stayed blank, but her voice was destroyed. "What do you want?"

"To finish my job." He answered simply.

"And that includes torturing me and watching me screw up everything?" She looked over to him. "Just what the hell is your job?" She then scowled. "I'll bet you already knew her identity, didn't you?"

"I'm not torturing you, kid. You're the one doing that. You should be able to tell the right answer. Though no, I didn't know who exactly she was. Seeing that was an added perk." He looks at her. "New desktop photo."

Jinx didn't care at this point. "You didn't answer the question. What is your job? You don't work for people."

Red X chuckled. "Sometimes, you have enough to gain from it. I'm still all about myself, but the people I'm benefiting off of needs people. Good people. To stay alive and on the right side. You were the only one from your group worth saving, so I've done my job." He looked at her. "You just have to decide. Are you good or bad? Or something in between?"

She watches as yet another explosion goes off in the distance. She chuckles. "You're that something in between, aren't you."

. . . . .

Raven appeared from darkness behind the man. Her body morphs into pure energy as the man is engulfed by a giant shrieking energy raven. The man actually screams in pain as the energy attacks him, but his crimson energy rips out, launching Raven off. She recovers in air to see his crimson energy in the shape of a howling wolf before it withdraws into him. He smiles as he holds up a hand. A massive energy beam launches from his hands.

Raven creates a massive spherical shield, blocking the entirety of the blast. The sphere shatters just as the blast stops, forcing Raven back. She looks up as the man tackles her out of the sky and flings her throughout the crater through massive rocks and piles of rubble. The man rises above the crater, coating the entire area around Raven in his energy before the glowing area detonates into another big bang.

The man snickers, but his laugh dies with a large grunt. His breath cuts off as Raven appears from darkness under him. Her hands are phased into his chest, clutching his lungs. _If I can suffocate him, he'll pass out._

His energy resists her. With a loud grunt, he energy begins pushing her out, scraping her feet on the ground. He finally is able to move as as he gathers energy in his right hand and smashes it into Raven's gut. The energy releases, passing through her body without creating a hole, but burning everything it passes through. Raven falls to the ground, coughing up blood before getting kicked back out into the rubble.

. . . . .

The alarm in the tower was still going off, but the computers were out. Cyborg was panicking. "Man, just what is going ON here?! Computers are out. The backup power is out. The only on is the damn communi-"

The communicators went off all at once. Robin answered. "Raven, where are you at."

"Fighting the enemy one on one. I'm at the center of the first explosion location. . ."

Robin scowled. "We're coming. Hold on."

"At this rate. I won't make it until you arrive." Everyone stopped. "I'm requesting your permission to use lethal force."

Robin was stunned. "But you know we don-"

"He's headed for the city! Either I stop him or a lot of people including me will die."

Robin looked at everyone. "Cyborg, work on the power and get the med bay prepared. Beast Boy and Starfire, fly to her position and back her up. I'll be there as soon as possible." He then turned to the communicator. "Permission. . . granted. Be careful"

The transmission cut out.

. . . . .

A loud laugh echoed through the wasteland. The man stood as his power pulsed around and started spinning in a crimson circle on the ground. He chuckled until more debris cleared. A black energy circle on the ground expanded and clashed with his, making him halt his laughing. The crimson and black energies crackle against each other as the power in the air began to crack the ground. Raven stepped forward, blood coming from her frowning mouth and from some cuts on her now blackened stomach. The grin on the man's face disappeared. His four red eyes widened seeing four identical red eyes under Raven's hood.

_**TO BE CONTINUED!**_


	5. Chapter 5

_This feeling. . . _

_Adrenaline. A perverse feeling of pleasure. The feeling of pride. I could tell this feeling. _

_I didn't have this feeling when I fought Trigon. Mostly, I didn't because I didn't fight him until I had the power to win. _

_But the feeling. Not knowing who might win, but fully confident anyway. No holds barred, and ready to rip the enemy apart with a smile._

_This is the feeling. . . when two demons fight. _

The ground coated with an aura of black emanating from Raven. The man in front of her glanced around, four eyes widening. The energy grips the ground a couple hundred yards each direction.

_I can't help but enjoy this. _

The ground folds up, crushing the man in a second with a loud boom. Raven appeared on top of the folded land, pressing down with her energy. The entire mound implodes, but a red line of energy rips from it.

The demon rips from the rock, appearing beside raven, locking four eyes with the same. His smile was twice as wide as before as he unleashed a wild kick. Raven blocked as their energies clashed. A massive shockwave results as Raven is launched through half the crater, scraping and skidding on the ground.

She rolls to her feet and skids to a halt. She barely opens her two sets of eyes to find the demon punching at her with crimson energy balled around his fist. The attack goes through her as she disappears, blowing apart everything in front of the demon. Raven reappears in front of him, kneeing him in the jaw. He's launched into the air. She sends her dark tendrils out, gripping the demon by the throat and choke slamming him into the earth, denting the landscape with the force.

The demon smirked, despite choking as he glowed red and began fading. A second demon appeared behind her, energy balled in his hands. _An energy duplicate? He can DO that? _He launches the ball at he near point blank.

She halts the blast with her hand, balling her own energy around his. The ball detonates, but she funnels the blast back at him, launching the man away.

Instead of hitting the ground, he phases into it. He flips out from the ground beside Raven, upside down flip kicking Raven's jaw. Raven's launched at mac speed. She opens her eyes to find him flying right beside her with a smirk. He almost looked normal if not for the four eyes. She felt his instincts coming from two locations. _Another clone! _The smirking image lit up and self destructed, launching Raven out of the crater entirely and into a nearby mountain. She dented the mass of land, making her cough up blood.

She looks up to see the real one, floating in front of her with a grin. He started chuckling.

Raven looks impassive, despite the four red eyes. "You're annoying." A fourth of the mountain side glows with her black power. The demon's eyes widen in alert. She throws her arms forward as the mountainside splits in half, moves around her, and smashes the surprised demon. She throws her arms down, smashing the mass into the ground below.

The landscape glows black as it twists further down, compressing. She intended to compress him inside the land. The ground twists up, then crushes down with an explosion like shockwave. The black is slowly cracked apart and replaced by a red glow. The earth is uplifted and thrown back up at Raven.

Raven creates a shield as the rock and ground engulfs and circles around her shield, making a surrogate meteor. The demon appears in the massive sink hole left in the ground, smirking. He channels his power and beams it through the meteor, blowing it up completely. He lets out a laugh like Disney's Stitch as Raven appears in front of him, cutting him off.

She blasts him point blank. . .

. . . . .

Robin sees the blast. It seemed quite a few miles away, and he had yet to make it out of the city. He grit his teeth as he activated the communicator. "Raven. Come in Raven!"

Nothing came. He cued again. "Star. Beast Boy. What do you have?"

Starfire's voice came in first. "We have found a massive crater. It goes for quite a while. No one is in site."

Beast boy's came in. "DUDE! Raven's fighting something that does THIS?!"

"Keep searching. Robin out."

. . . . .

Raven scraped the demon across the ground, holding it by the face. She stopped as she threw him away. He lands in the distance with a boom before she grabs him with her energy, reeling him in by the leg. Her hand balls into a fist with black energy as she smashes it into his face.

The hit rocks him, flipping him into the air before Raven grabs him by the leg. She speeds down, slamming him into the ground.

He tries to get up, but she plants her knee into his throat, holding him down as she gathers a mass of energy in her hands. She presses the mass into the man's head, but his body fades away along with her blast. _Did he? He teleported with MY blast? _

A chuckle caught her off guard as he reappeared at her left, slamming her own blast into her left side.

The explosion shook the landscape. The debris cleared as the demon cackled. He laughed with his early victory he wasn't prepared. Five claw like talons of black energy impale him in the chest. He coughs as blood coming from his chest. He looks forward to see Raven's four eyes. Her right hand controlled the talons. Her left arm hung to her side, heavily wounded and dripping her own blood. Her whole left side was damaged, and some blood trickled down her face.

The man's left hand gripped her arm, trying to pull her out as his right hand gripped her throat. Finally, he wasn't grinning. He was scowling angrily as black and red energies coated the two. The energies blasted the two apart.

The man slowly got up. He limped forward, but glowed with his power nonetheless. The debris cleared, showing Raven on her knee, trying and failing to get up. Her four eyes returned to two white glowing eyes. Her breathing was labored as she couldn't hardly move. The man picked up speed as he charged her. She gathered power in her good arm. "If I'm going to die, you're going with me."

The man charged for speed as she lifted herself up to attack.

The ground cracked as a force blasted into the man from the side, launching him away. Raven stopped, falling on her knees. You could almost see the question mark floating over her head.

A newcomer landed in front of her, with familiar pink hair. "I'll take him."

"Jinx?! Get out of here. This isn't your fight."

Jinx shrugged. "He's going to attack our city right? That wouldn't help my business." Jinx saw how beat up and injured Raven was, her eye twitching in anger. Her arms lit up in pink energy as her eyes glowed. "And if you're worried I'll get hurt of something stupid. . . You're not the only one who holds back during fights."

Raven calms her breath. "What do you mean?" Jinx watched the demon get up. It was moving oddly. Raven noticed it too. "What did you do?"

Jinx glared at the thing. "My hexes can affect humans the same way as a machine. I simply choose not to do so since it would kill most people." She nodded towards the demon. "That hex should have fried his nervous system, but he's recovering somehow."

Raven's eyes widened slightly. "Well, he's a demon."

Jinx would have to wait to ask questions on THAT subject. The demon rushed at her, but it was much slower than before. It threw a punch filled with red energy as she hexes the punch before it hits her guard.

The punch knocks her back, but she lands on her feet clutching the arm that blocked the punch. "Well, he's a lot stronger than I thought. Ow." She grinned when the demon was staring at his arm, which wouldn't move. "I shut down the nerves in your arm, moron." The words didn't register, but the voice did. The demon charges with energy as Jinx stands her ground.

The demon tries to attack, but black energy catches him, halting his attack. Raven calls out. "Jinx now!"

The bad luck mistress charges power in both hands and slaps both on the demon's chest. "Let's see how you like all your organs failing at once!"

The pink energy surges through the man as he releases a blood boiling scream of pain. His voice morphs demonic and normal and echoes in multiple pitches. Jinx stops her attack as the man falls flat on his back.

Jinx looks at the guy, then to Raven who stared at the thief wide eyed. "You made all his organs fail? That seems a bit excessive."

Jinx tilted her head, who held a far off look in her eye. "Well, his brain's intact. You wanting me to fry it too? He's dead." Raven noticed the way she said that, but then sensed something.

Raven looked at the guy. "He isn't dead."

Jinx snapped back to attention. "Bullshit!"

Raven stared at the man. "Demon. His body doesn't guarantee his survival. His body will heal itself over time." There was a silence for a little bit. "Thank you." Raven muttered.

Jinx looked back at her, holding some anger, but it quickly disappeared. She noticed something in the sky. "I gotta go before your friends come. By the way." Jinx locks eyes with Raven. "We're going to have a talk about this."

Raven waits a moment before nodding. Jinx quickly runs off. Raven turns to see two dots approaching, quickly recognizing them as Starfire and Beast Boy. "RAVEN!" Star yelled.

She smirked slightly. "What. . . took you?" Her vision blurred then darkened as she felt her head hit the ground.

. . . . .

_Ow. . . _Was the most sophisticated thought she could muster.

Her head throbbed. She felt numb in a lot of places. She slowly opened her eyes, immediately blinded by the overhead light. "Hmph. . ."

"Girl, you should not be awake already." She recognized Cyborg's voice.

"Ugh. How long?" She turned her head just enough to see Cyborg's face. He had a big smile.

"Most people would be in a coma for months with your damage. Of course, you'd be up before midnight."

She groaned. "Well, mechanic, what are the damages?" She felt light headed. She would have to assume she had some medicine in her making her slightly doped.

He grimaced. "Lets see. Five cracked ribs, head wound, gash wounds throughout the torso, numerous beaten bruises and ripped muscles, left leg was dislocated, a minor skull fracture, and your arm, which was broken in three places and torn up. Since you heal so fast, I had to re-break it to set it correctly. . . twice. You'll be able to walk tomorrow. You won't be able to walk straight though for three, maybe four days given your healing. Your left arm won't be useable for god knows how long." He finished the list and looked at her seriously. "You also lost over two thirds of your blood. Grand total of 437 stitches used. You also had a decent amount of burns on your insides, so you'll have problems eating hard foods and taking deep breaths."

She stared at the ceiling. "Lucky me. . . I'm sorry if I worried you."

He smiled. "You'll have to say that to the city. They know you stopped the guy single handed. They saw Robin driving you back. Wasn't a good sight."

Her expression hardened. "I didn't do it alone. . ." She figured she shouldn't mention Jinx, but. . . "He was injured well before he arrived. A lot. His mind was mute. His body acting on impulse. He wasn't controlling his actions."

Cyborg was taken back, his voice raising. "Say what?! You mean?"

She closed her eyes to think. "He's the guy from my dreams, and he's much more powerful than me." Then her eyes snapped open, she went frantic. "What happened to him?!" She then winced in a stabbing pain.

Cyborg eased her down. "Whoe there! He's contained."

"How. . ." She got out.

"I operated on him, same as I did with you. Of course, you came first. I noticed that his physiology was similar to yours and. . . it freaked us out. We put him in that room that shuts down your powers. Figured it might contain him. Just in case, Star is on guard duty." He explained. He frowned. "I still have absolutely NO idea how he's alive. His organs were torn up." Raven knew why, but wasn't going to say. "Heavy open wounds in his side."

She answered. "Not my doing."

He nodded. "I'll assume the majority wasn't your doing, then. What DID you do?"

She thought, her memory fuzzy. "The main thing I caused damage wise was the five stabbings in his chest and pretty much most of the blunt damage."

He nodded. "That leaves a lot that isn't your doing. Needless to say, he was nearly empty of blood."

She nodded. "How long until he wakes up?"

He thought. "Well, took you about 6 hours. His wounds were about. . . ten times worse. I guarantee he'll be out for days. Plus, I put enough meds in him to keep him knocked out until we WANT him awake."

She nodded, her eyes heavy. Her visioned darkened and she fell asleep.

. . . . .

One step. _Ow. _Next step. _Ow. _Next step. _Ow. _Next step. _Ow._

Raven stepped her way into the common room. She looked at the clock. Noon. She limped her way over to the kitchen, ignoring the wide eyed expression from Beast Boy and Robin who paused their game. Star floated over. "Friend Raven. It is delightful to see you awake and up."

Raven wore her civilian wear, the tight jean pants and blue hoodie jacket. Her eyes showed she was still tired. "Thanks. . ." Her left arm was in a sling, so she was trying to make herself food one handed.

Beast Boy pointed out. "If you need help, you can ask." Ordinarily he would just help, but after she blasted him out of her room. . .

Star tried to do so, but Raven stared at her to cut her off. "You're not touching my food."

Star sweat dropped. "My cooking has come far. . ."

Beast Boy got up. "Then I can-"

Raven cuts him off. "No Tofu." Beast Boy flopped back down. Robin got up then. Raven tilted her head. "You can cook?"

Robin stopped. "I can try?"

She sighed. "Cyborg is still looking over the demon."

Robin noted. "Which, on that subject, I don't think we should wake the guy up until you give us the go ahead. Agreed?"

Raven nodded. "Then, on the subject of food, I'm going out."

"Are you sure you can-"

"I'll be fine. If problems start, I'll teleport back." She hobbled her way out of the room.

. . . . .

Raven sat, leaning against a tree in the park. Her hair was black and eyes blue, though she rested with her eyes closed. The city remained mostly untouched. There was only the damage from the initial shockwave. She could blame her injuries on an accident during the event.

"Okay." A familiar voice sounded. Raven slowly opened her eyes to see a familiar blonde standing over her, though with slightly colder eyes than usual. The blonde was still showing a good deal of shock too. "How in the hell were you able to walk here?"

Raven groaned. "I find myself asking the same questions. Hi. . . Jennifer."

Jinx glares at her. "You sound so convincing. . . Rachael." Raven's stomach growled. "Okay, lets hobble you somewhere to eat."

. . . . .

The two sat across from each other. Not much in the way of conversation, obviously. "So Rav-Rachen- Rachael!" Jinx sputtered and failed to start right.

Raven shifted uncomfortable. "Are we going to keep doing this?"

Jinx thought about it. "It sounds like a retarded thing to do, but I don't know. Are we?"

Raven sighed. "It WOULD be stupid." She then remembered. "You said you were living on your own now? You left the HIVE?" _If she left them. . . then? _

"I'm no hero if you're thinking that." Jinx said, killing Raven's thoughts. ". . . I don't know what to do, but for now I'm going solo. Don't get off subject."

Raven sighed. It was still better than she thought the situation was. "Against my better judgment. . ."

Jinx chuckled. "Aww, I like your company too."

The two were silent again. Raven cut the silence short. "So we're going to still hang out, so at least now we can be honest with each other about things and not give excuses. . . though I won't like any of your answers."

Jinx chuckled for real this time. "Alright, so now it's my turn to drill you with a line of questions."

Raven muttered. "Fantastic. . ."

"First off, the bangs that I keep hearing around you."

Raven went red. "My powers get unstable with strong and quick emotional spikes and changes."

Jinx thought, then realization hit. "YOU TRIPPED ME UP!"

Raven blinked twice. "What?" 

"When we 'met'! We both said sorry, and I asked why you were sorry. You caused it!" Jinx accused with a knowing smirk. The blush answered her question. "That means you owe me a free meal!"

Raven hit her forehead on the table. "You're wanting to get even? How petty. . ."

Jinx shrugged. "Hey, it's justice. You're supposed to be all about that."

"Yet, I'm out with you."

"Good point." Jinx thought. "Okay, next question. Be honest. How the fuck are you alive?"

"Worried?" Raven tried changing subject.

Jinx glared. "Seriously. You said that thing yesterday was a demon. . . and it had the same eyes you. . . had. . ." Jinx's eyes widened. She pointed one finger one way. "But you. . ." The other finger another direction. ". . . and. . ." The fingers point to each other. "Oh. . ."

Jinx stared at Raven. Raven looked down. "Yeah. . ."

Jinx wondered. "Born from rape, and raised in a monastery where you were mentally abused by the monks for what you were. Suddenly, your story makes more sense." Raven gave her a weird look. "What?"

Raven just looked confused. "That's all you have to say?"

Jinx shrugged. "What did you expect?"

"I expected a lot more of the evil demands. The blackmail." Raven answered honestly.

Jinx looked away. "Not gonna lie. I SHOULD do that, but I won't." Jinx thinks, then bursts out laughing.

Raven had to know. "What is so funny?"

"I had asked to meet your friends. THAT'S going to be fun." She was almost ROFLing.

Raven turned red again. ". . . yeah. . . definitely not happening anytime soon. Especially since I had promised Starfire that she'd meet you first. . . unless."

Jinx tilted her head. "Unless. . ."

Raven thought. "Nevermind."

Jinx suppressed a laugh. "You can't be serious!" 

Raven looked away. "I didn't say anything."

Jinx laughed. "You didn't have to. I know you now! You're thinking of having your friends meet me as alter egos, get to know me, then drop the bombshell about my ID after they like me enough not to care."

Raven turned tomato red and looked away. "Shut up."

Jinx smiled. "Well, now that everything's wrapped up. . . sorry for being such a B. . . for accusing you of leading me on and. . . junk."

Raven shifted. "I. . . am also sorry for letting my emotions have control. Friends?"

Jinx snickered. "Considering what we did before realizing who we were, what ARE we exactly?"

Raven turned red. "No idea. Don't think I wanna think about that right now." She sighed, calming down.

Jinx looked at her, smiling. "You need to sleep more."

Raven grunted. "I know. I felt like I should speak with you."

"And you did. The city heard the news about you being alive and making a full recovery. There won't be a single person telling you not to stay in bed for at least a week."

Raven nodded. The two payed their bill, getting up and leaving the restaurant. The two entered an alleyway. They scanned around, finding no one looking. Raven sighed. "I. . . guess I'll call you when I have more energy to do something."

Jinx nodded. "Screw it." She hugged Raven, making the empath blush. A nearby trashcan coated in her energy, but it didn't blow up. The energy disappeared as Raven returned the hug. Jinx pulled back with a peck on the cheek and a small smile before Raven teleported away.


	6. Chapter 6

_I hate this room. . . _

She really did. She stood in the near empty room. The center of the room was occupied by a single bed with steel clamps around the limbs of the captured man. His clothes were too shredded to keep, so Cyborg managed to get into a plain white sleeveless shirt and loose white pants that Robin used to use for martial arts. He had two eyes now, instead of the four from before. He was cleaned up, so all in all he looked like a regular guy.

Raven moved closer, seeing the hooked up IV's pumping in the medicine and pure tranquilizer. Raven opened one eye, seeing his unnatural bright orange eye color.

She exited the room, seeing Cyborg there. "Get any conclusions?" He asked.

She nodded. "Full blooded demon. No doubt about that much. He has SOME relation with my dad."

Cyborg tilted his head. "Really? He looks human, and his features change much like yours."

Raven shook her head. "The body is very convincing, but magic users, and demons of course, can tell when a spirit is inside the same body it was born in. That body is not his birth one, though I don't know why he's discolored similarly to me. The body usually stays the same no matter what soul inhabits it."

Cyborg shivered. "I'll stay out of THAT business. When we want to wake him?"

Raven thought. "We'll do it tonight. It's still early today." She floated up off the ground. "That room irritates me."

. . . . .

"Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos." Two voices called. Today was a 'Starfire and Raven' day, so the first half would have meditation, and the second would be spent at the mall. "Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos."

A beep interrupted the chant, Raven looking down to a timer below the floating girls. She looked impassive as she saw Starfire get a face splitting grin. Raven smirked. "Okay. . . we can go now."

"YAY!" She burst forth. "I shall get the wallet of money!" She begins to fly off before stopping. "Um. . ." She looked nervous.

Raven tilted her head. "Yeah?"

"You said your new friend, your other, had suggested the mall to you, yes? Perhaps we could invite her?" Starfire looked hopeful with big pleading eyes.

Raven pursed her lips. Oh, she hated these moments. It was especially bad since she and Jinx were still getting over them being. . . well, Raven and Jinx. She also didn't think of actually doing her plan, but. . . ". . . If I say yes, you'll have to go under a different name, and have a holo ring."

"EEEEE!" She cheered and sped away.

Raven sighed. She teleported to the roof. She could walk straight now, but she wanted to do as little of it as possible. She flips her communicator open, ringing a number. A cheery voice rung in. "Hello, you've reached the mistress of bad luck. For English, press 1. For a nice 'fuck other languages and then English', press 2."

Raven replied dryly. "I'll press 3. Shut up. Starfire and I are going to the mall, but she wants to meet 'you'."

There was silence for a moment. Jinx cut in. "Will she be Starfire? Or someone else."

"Someone else."

Jinx let out a 'hmmmmm.' She released a chuckle. "If it bothers you, then I say yes." 

Raven grumbled. "Of course you would. . ."

Jinc chuckles. "Don't you love it?"

Raven muttered. "Unfortunately. Bye." She shut the communicator before Jinx could make another comment.

. . . . .

Raven couldn't stop staring at Starfire, who kept looking around in anticipation. Raven had her black hair and blue eyes. She still wore her blue zip up jacket and deep blue jeans. Starfire had probably the least changing holoring. Her hair was still red. Her eyes were still green, but only the actual color, having whites now. Her skin tone was a regular white tone. She wore a purple tank top and a white button up skirt with her usual purple boots.

Raven spoke up. "You can settle down. . . Do you still remember your name?"

Star smiled at Raven. "I'm too excited to meet a new friend!" Raven continued to stare before Star scratched the back of her neck nervously. "Oh, um, I am Korri. . ."

Raven sighed. "Your real name is Koriand'r. Your fake first name is Korri. Your fake last name is Anders."

Starfire smiles. "Yours is Rachael Roth." Raven nods. "You went with your mother's last name."

Raven looks away. "Yeah. . ." She then saw blonde hair. Jinx came from the crowd, purple blouse, pink eyes, black pants and boots. Starfire followed Raven's look, seeing the blonde. She smiled big. Raven nudged the excited alien. "Try not to be too obvious."

Jinx walks up, bending down to hug the sitting Raven, a gesture she didn't do too often. Star nearly exploded in happiness just from seeing it. Raven's eyes opened wide. _Oh no she isn't. . . _Jinx kisses Raven's cheek. "Hey, Rae!" She said, more excited than usual. She looked at Star, her arms still around Raven. "Hi! You must be-"

Star yelled out. "Korri!" She then looked embarrassed, toning the volume down. "I-I'm Korri Anders. Lovely to meet you." She looked at Raven. "May I?"

Raven was glaring at Jinx, then smirked. "Go ahead."

Jinx was confused before getting swept up by Starfire in a crushing hug. Jinx coughed. "I'm-" a squeeze cuts her off. She tries again. "Jennifer-" Another squeeze. Star drops her as Jinx gasps for air. "I'm Jennifer."

Raven whispers to Jinx. "Cut off the flirting or I'll have her hug you again."

Jinx chuckled. "It's worth it to embarrass you."

Star piped in. "Friends! What do you want to do?"

Raven frowned as Jinx smiled. In a mall, Jinx definitely held an advantage. Jinx piped up. "I was thinking about getting' Rae a bikini." She smiled as she heard a small tile on the mall floor crack.

Raven's only thought was simple. Kill Jinx.

. . . . .

She didn't know HOW she accomplished it. She somehow managed to stop two socialistic shoppers from killing her with things like underwear and bikinis.

They sat in the food court now. Jinx was getting food while Starfire shook Raven in excitement. "She is wonderful! I do not understand why you are so nervous."

Raven grumbled. "Exactly. She's devious and knows how to get to me."

Star grinned. "She would get along with Beast Boy?"

Raven's eyes widened. _Oh my god, if this actually works out. . . I'll have two of them to deal with. _"That thought actually makes me want to end it."

Star smiles. "You enjoy her company too much."

Raven rolls her eyes as Jinx comes in. The disguised villainess looked at them confused. "Private conversation?"

Raven muttered. "Not anymore. Korri, go get your food."

Star giggled and went off, Jinx looking back at Raven. "Seems I'm not the only one bothering you."

Raven monotones. "Seems anyone close to me is an expert at it." She glanced at Jinx. "She LOVES you by the way."

Jinx sits down. "I'm a master charmer." She gloats. "You going to get your own food."

Raven purses her lips. "I'm not leaving you two alone."

Jinx laughs. "Relax. Okay, I'll stop hassling you for today."

"I should feel blessed. Anyway, I told Star what I wanted." She muttered.

Jinx frowned. "I didn't piss you off or anything, right? Just having fun."

Raven looked at her, then smiled. "It's much better than I expected."

Star came back with the food. She sat down and looked at Jinx. "I've been meaning to ask. How did you two meet?"

Jinx answered in a romantic voice. "I fell for her."

Raven clarified. "She fell ON me."

Jinx chuckled. "Yeah. I was balancing on a wall and tripped up." Of course, she now knew it wasn't her fault as Raven looked away.

Star's eyes shined. "How amazing!"

Both other girls sweat drop at the red head. "Riiiiiight." They say in unison.

Star opens her mouth to speak again, but stops as she stares at something behind them. Raven senses the blank slate that comes on the tameranean. She turned around as Jinx did the same. They all see a blonde girl walking through the mall with a small smile. She wore a schoolgirl outfit, which prompted Raven to check the time. About 5:30.

Jinx felt like the girl was familiar. "You guys know her?"

Raven and Star think at the same time. _Terra. _Raven watches the girl walk further into the crowd and disappear. "No. She just looks like someone we knew."

She sensed the depressed feeling in Starfire. The alien spoke up. "Yes. . . Knew."

Jinx tilted her head before remembering. She looked at Raven, who gave her a very small nod. _Wait, I thought she died. Guess, that's something else to ask. _

. . . . .

Raven and Starfire left the mall, preparing to leave. Star walked to Jinx pulling her into a hug. "It was amazing to meet you, friend Jennifer!"

Jinx struggled, but hugged back, surprised that Starfire held back on the strength. "Great to meet you too. Can I say bye to Rae alone?"

Star nodded and walked to the corner of the street. Raven walked up. "Alone?"

Jinx frowned. "Don't know how to feel about making friends with all the people I've been fighting all this time."

Raven chuckled. "I didn't appreciate them much at first, either. Seems Starfire is already growing on you." 

Jinx pouted. "Hush." Jinx then smiled. "Oh well, I'll end today on a good note." She pulls Raven into a kiss, surprising the girl. Raven, having expected this at some point, rolled with it as the two parted. Jinx smirked and sprinted away, waving.

Raven walked back to Star, finding the girl smiling wider than ever. Raven asked. "What? . ."

"You are smiling." Star calmly stated.

Raven caught herself and straightened her features as she turned red.

. . . . .

Raven exited her room as she headed through the halls. _Alright. . . time to get to the bottom of this. _She made it through the building as she found Robin, Beast Boy, and Cyborg standing together outside the safe room turned holding cell for the demon man. Raven walked up to them. "Where's Starfire?"

Cyborg pointed to the viewing screen. Raven noticed that Starfire stood in the room alone with the man. He had yet to wake up. "He's been off the tranqs for bout' ten minutes." Cyborg stated. "Usually people take hours, but seeing he's a demon an' all." 

Raven nodded. "And Star?"

Beast Boy smirked. "Good cop. She'll talk to him first. Since he was in your dreams, it would probably be smart to have someone other than you talk to him first."

Raven nodded. Robin continued. "Even in that room, you and he would retain your physical strength. If he manages to break his restraints, only Star and Cyborg are physically strong enough to hold him."

Cyborg grumbled. "And Robin doesn't think I can play good cop."

Raven was surprised by the reasoning. "Who's the bad cop?" The boys all pointed to Robin, who pointed at himself. "Right, obvious." They hear a groan.

Robin spoke. "He's stirring." 

. . . . .

Starfire looked at the orange haired man stir, trying to move his hands until the restraints hold him. He opens his eyes with a pained groan. "Ow, what happened?" He looked around, his vision adjusting. He takes one look at the steel clamps and sighs. "Earth." His voice was a normal teenager voice. Not too deep, but matured.

Star tilts her head. "How would you know that?"

He snapped to attention, though his eyes show no surprise. "Earthlings have been the only people to actually TRY putting me in holding cells. Most just try to kill me." He took a look around the room, letting out a whistle. "Wow, I really don't come by often enough if cells are this far in technology." He looked at Star, getting a slight smirk. "Though, I'm wondering if you come here often."

"You are not in a holding cell." Starfire spoke, ignoring the flirt attempt which gets rid of his smirk. "You are, however, in a room that nullifies your demon powers." 

He still looked around with half open eyes. He closed his eyes, attempting to do something. He opens his eyes fully. "No kidding. Didn't work." He chuckled. "I'm impressed."

Starfire began the questions. "Who are you?"

He barely payed attention. "I should ask the same. Why am I locked up?" She took time to word her answer, but he spoke again. "Oh, god. I went wrathful, didn't I?" He didn't sound too surprised, or even put off in the slightest. It was so. . . matter of fact.

Star smiled. "You are talkative. Since you know you did wrong, why not tell us why you're here?"

He chuckled. "I'm a demon. We're boastful. However, I'm only willing to talk to one person. Tell me, do you know who the. . . Teen? Yeah, Teen Titans are?"

Star tilted her head. "I am one of them. You are at Titan's Tower."

His face lit up slightly. No smile, but his eyes had more life. "Perfect. I'd like to speak to Raven, please."

Star frowned. "I cannot allow that until we know your intent."

He pressed with a forming smile. "The only way you'll know is if I talk to her."

"Then you will remain here." Star stated. "I apologize, but you are too dangerous to let have your way."

He frowned. "Would it help if I said I'm not dangerous?"

The door opened as Robin stepped into the room with a scowl. "You leveled four square miles worth of forest and caused thousands in damage to the city."

The demon looked at Robin. "Hey! Humans still control Earth. Good to know." Then he thinks a moment. "Ah, so I did go wrathful." The two teens stare at him weirdly. "What? I'm like that when I'm unconscious. Right now I'm as fierce as a kitten, swear. Completely sloth."

Robin scoffs. "You ARE a demon, right? Tell us why you're here."

The orange haired teen snickers. "You know demons enjoy making mortals angry at us, right?"

"Tell us who you are." Robin orders. "We know you've got some relation with Trigon. We know you are a full blood demon. Tell us what else." 

The demon sobers up, looking impassive. "You know an awful bit about me. All I know is that you're Titans. You guys gained QUITE a name after killing Trigon. Although, I don't fully attribute it to your own power."

Robin scowls. "You talk big for a person locked up."

The demon smirks. "Yes. You managed to capture an already half dead unconscious demon. Ohhhh gooooood for you. . . You want a cookie?"

A voice cut in. "You're just as annoying awake as you are unconscious." Robin and Star see Raven enter the room. "You enjoy being a smart one."

He looks at the newcomer, smile never leaving. "Always be the smartest person in the room."

"Talking back to your captors isn't very smart." Raven noted. "Who are you?"

The demon cocks his head. He replied snidely. "Who are you?"

Everyone looked weirdly at him. They thought he'd recognize her first look. Cyborg and Beast Boy were in the room now, having entered behind Raven.

Raven just looks him in the eye. "I'm Raven."

The man's expression went near shocked. His eyes widened, his lips pursed then opened slightly. He blinks twice. His voice was now several pitches up. "Oh!" He thinks a moment. He openly speaks his thoughts. "How to do this. . ."

Raven narrowed her eyes at him. "Well?" 

He looked straight at her with an obviously overblown smile and yelled. "Great to meet you, little sis!"

. . . . .

_**GNN NEWS: Lori Prince Live.**_

"Good evening and welcome to Lori Prince Live. Tonight's subject, the nearly fallen hero of Jump. Just two nights ago, Raven of Jump City nearly gave her life to defend the city from a sudden and unseen threat. Joining me today is multi-millionaire and neurosurgeon Thomas Elliot. Thomas, how's the sweet life?"

A well groomed man with jet black hair and full black suit appeared, speaking in a high class voice. "Never been sweater."

"And also joining me today is Iris West-Allen, a fellow reporter from Central City. Any good stories for me?"

A red head young woman appears with a smile. "Oh, plenty."

"So, Iris, what comments do you have on this latest tragedy?"

"It comes with the territory." Iris sighs. "Any time these heroes fight, there is always the possibility that they'll die. Thanks to her risking herself like that, no one else was hurt. I think we should appreciate that. I'm certain many citizens of jump agree."

Lori nods. "A good sentiment. One does have to wonder about the things that go through their minds when they do these things. We already have word that she'll make a full recovery, so she'll just get right up to do it again, just like that?"

Iris smiles. "That's the way heroes are. They feel fear. They feel pressure. They feel everything we feel. The only difference is that they show the courage to overcome it. We should all strive to overcome that example."

Thomas puts his views in. "Are you sure it's entirely out of such a pure heart? I believe our dear friends Godfrey pointed out some. . . worrisome points during his appearance on this segment."

Iris was confused. "You honestly think that Raven's motives for being a hero might not be pure?"

Thomas nods. "Exactly. Satellite imagery shows the mass of blasts and explosions during her fight with this. . . monster. Not much could be seen with detail, but we did get this." A picture of a large wolf made of red energy appeared. It was when the demon broke from Raven's hold. The interesting bit, the energy wolf had four crimson eyes as it howled. "See this? We've all seen that Raven's power will manifest in a. . . well, raven. This wolf symbol of the enemy's power greatly resembles the eyes shown by Raven in Godfrey's report." 

Lori appraises the picture, thinking. "That is an astute observation, but still incomplete. We can't draw conclusions simply because two people use similar powers."

Iris nods with him. "Yeah, after all if that was the case, any person with super strength would be a reason to doubt superman."

Thomas shrugged. "I don't assume anything. However, I am not blind to possibilities. While their powers are similar, there is much more than that in the eyes. The same crimson eyes. . . it is suspicious. You WERE wondering about the motives and what might be going through their minds? Maybe she helps to make up for a bad history. That new enemy could be from her past. Any number of possiblities link her to the other side. Not enough link her to the angels."

Iris points out the flaw. "It's the same with any hero. We don't know anyone's back story. Their secret identity. Any of them can have ties we know nothing about. Superman has fought against other kryptonians who wanted to wipe us out. Many people argue that most of Batman's enemies only came to being because of the Batman's existence. Why single out Raven?"

"I don't." Thomas leaned forward. "I single out the Titans in general." Lori and Iris look at his incredulously. "Let's go through some facts. The Titans form the same day as an alien attack from creatures called the Gordanians to capture a certain orange alien." He lifts a finger. "Said alien, Starfire, is also related to a criminal who has caused problems in our public before, a Ms Blackfire." He raises a second finger. "Rumor goes that there are certain connections between Robin and the master thief at large, Red X." A third finger. "Not to mention the ties between ex hero slash ex villain Terra and Beast Boy." Another finger. "Finally, there are many signs of the criminal organization, The HIVE, using the exact same technology as Cyborg." He holds up five fingers. "Put that all together with this relation that could exist between Raven and this. . . whatever it is, I don't think we CAN trust the Titans."

Lori countered. "However, the Titan's own sacrifices, both personal and professional, more than make up for any doubts."

Iris commented rather angrily. "ESPECIALLY in light of Raven's recent near death experience."

Lori smiles. "And of course we all wish her a fast recovery."

. . . . .

Everyone's jaws hung open. Cyborg muttered a high pitch, soft "Say what?"

"Dude. . ." Beast Boy barely got out.

Star and Robin were stunned.

Raven's wide eyed look turned to fury. She stepped forward, grabbing a bird-a-rang off Robin's belt and deploying its blade. She tries to slash the man's throat when Robin grabs and foolishly tries pulling her arm back. The blade stops right at the man's throat, who doesn't show any reaction, staring blankly. "Care to repeat that?" She spat. "You're my brother?"

"Half. . ." He replies bluntly.

"Then you know I want you and anyone else involved with my father gone."

"Our father." The man begins as Raven pushes the blade forward.

"RAVEN!" Robin yells, making her stop.

She relaxes, dropping the weapon for Robin to pocket. He replied plainly. "You're not the only one who despised daddy dearest. Most of us did."

Her eyes widened. "Most? Just who are you?"

He smiles, but it doesn't quite show in his eyes. "Zane 'Wolf' Ulric. First born son of Trigon the Terrible. Eldest of Trigon's heirs and inheritor of all his known lands and holdings. I bring the wrath."

Everyone looks back and forth between him and Raven. She narrows her eyes. "Eldest? How old are you? And how many bodies have you taken? That body isn't the one you were born in."

His eyes widen. "Good catch! Most demons can't even tell." After noticing that his compliment didn't please her, he sighed and continued. "Lets see. . . it's been a good thirteen years since I've been to Earth, so in your years. . . I'm 968 years old."

Raven's eyes widened. "your body?"

"Not a possession. I created this body myself within about ten years of my birth." He smirked, proud of it. "Good looking, am I right?" They just stare at him, amazed.

She barely formed the question. "You created it?"

"Yeah. . ." He suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Though being so young when I made it was a problem. I accidentally bound my soul to it. The body has to die before my soul self can leave it indefinitely, though unless I have something prepared to jump into, I'll just die when this body dies."

Raven tilts her head. "You could just build a new body."

He chuckles. "But I like this body. Besides, I plan on dying someday anyway."

Beast Boy asks. "How many siblings do you have?"

He looks at the green Titan with a smirk. "Including Raven? There have been seven total." His expression softened slightly, but not too noticeably. "those still around? Three."

Raven's eyes narrowed. "I don't get it. If Trigon had other children, why use me the way he did? Why not use you all?"

"He did." The man replied dryly. "None worked. You were the 'go for broke' plan, from what I know. Each of us were used by him in some capacity. Some with varying success. Some were absolute failures."

The Titans all looked at each other. Robin asked. "Why are you here?"

The man looked at them. "Well. . . the thing is. . . you see. . . I. . . need. . . help."

Raven immediately snapped. "Why the hell would I help you?"

He smirked. "Good use of hell, and asides from getting acquainted with your loveable big brother-" Even he cut off and chuckled at Raven's hateful glare. "Oh, that was great. The point is, if you don't help me with my problem, it will soon become your problem."

"How?" She asked.

"Well, good ole dad had lots of enemies." he started off sarcastically. "Several have tried taking him on, and subsequently got their butts kicked. One of which was an old demonic god named Azerall. MEAN GUY! Got sealed away by Trigon long time ago. . . problem? The seal was released when someone, YOU, killed father. So. . ."

"That was a year ago. Well, nearly." Raven noted. "Wouldn't you have been able to come get help from me anytime? And why would it be my problem? I should just sit back and watch."

He chuckled. "Your stab at pragmatism is, well, adorable. He's spent the better part of the last year conquering Trigon's holdings without much in the way of resistance. . . until me. I've been fighting his efforts and undermining him for a while. Though not for the holdings. I never took them up in the first place. Too restricting to rule over lands."

Raven raised her eye brow. "Then why defend them?"

He smiled. "I knew that eventually, he'd hunt me down anyway for being a descendent of Trigon. It would eventually be my problem, so it would be better to act soon, right? Plus, I'm a full demon. I enjoyed the challenge."

Raven seemed to connect the dots. "So it will become my problem because I'm a target for him, too. Plus, Trigon once claimed Earth for himself, so that makes Earth a target for this Azerall as well." She looked at him. "The visions in my dreams?"

Zane frowned. "I'd gone into a final confrontation with him. Short story?"

Beast Boy answered. "You got schooled." 

Zane nodded. "I'd already been fighting him for a few days before I started trying to send messages to you. The fight in total took two straight weeks."

"What are you proposing? You're much stronger than me, so am I supposed to tip the balance?" Raven asked.

Zane sighed. "Somehow, you were able to kill our dad. That power may have been a one time thing, but there's something I want to try. . . and it can only be done if you agree to help. Like I said, I have no interest in conquering or doing anything here. I'm NOT your enemy. Too slothful for that."

Cyborg cut in. "If Rae is pulled into anything, we're with her."

Zane commented. "You're going to have to." The Titans looked at him. "Truth is, the entire time I've been contacting Raven, Azerall has been contacting someone else." Surprise shows on all their faces as he continues. "Look, you got time. Azerall's weeks from finishing his conquest of Trigon's holdings. Then he has to go through the hell of coming here. Plus," He looks at all his stitches. "I get the feeling I won't be up for a while anyway. You can think it over, but I do need your help, Raven."

She glares at him before turning to leave.

Zane looks at the others. "Um. . . can I get out of these." They just leave, leaving him in the steel clamps. "Damn."

. . . . .

It was late night. About two in the morning. Jinx landed on a roof top for a suburban house. She pulled out binoculars, seeing into the window of a house. In the room slept a familiar blonde. Jinx scratches her head. "I'm certain that's her. . . but- what's that!" She scans the area, finding that she's not the only one hiding in the night. She gets ready to attack when another shadow appears behind her.

A gloved hand clamps over her mouth, startling her. "Be calm, Lucky."

She shrugs him off. "Red X! The hell?!"

He holds up a finger to shush her. The two focus on the moving shadows. "I'm following them."

Jinx can't make out who they are. "Why?"

Red X says ominously. "My mission."

Before she can ask, half the building Terra sleeps in is blown apart. A scream is heard and Jinx looks up, eyes wide. "What the hell?" She turns to find Red X gone. A small note. She looked at it, a picture of Terra with a cross mark beside it. The words 'X marks the spot' were written.


	7. Chapter 7

_Damn it. . . _

Raven slammed a book closed, narrowing her eyes. She picked up another, quickly speed reading.

_Nothing. _

She sighed as she shut that book too. Around her laid three stacks of books. She'd been searching through them without any interruption all morning.

_Not a single thing._

She laid back on her bed, levitating the books away from her. "You'd think if there were seven descendents of Trigon, there'd be something about their existence." _Over 900 years and not one thing about their existence. How? _Her eye brows knit together as she thinks hard. _Well, considering so few texts mention Trigon or even Scath, it's not too hard to assume that there just isn't anything about them, but. . . I guess I'll just-_

The alarm sounded. She sighed. _Beat the hell out of whoever is attacking._

_. . . . . _

Raven flew into the common room, the others rushing in as well. Robin stared at the screen. "Can't tell much. A civilian's been kidnapped." He turned to them. "Titans go!" The began to rush out before Robin finished. "Raven, you need to stay."

She halted. "Why?"

"You're still injured, plus after last night, I know your emotions probably aren't the best."

She opened her mouth to reply, then looked away. "Fine."

Robin nodded to the others as they charged out, leaving the demi demon to stare at the door. She sighed.

. . . . .

The door to the safe room opened loudly, waking up Zane. He jolted slightly from his sleep. He looks at Raven before smirking.

She glares at him. "I have something to ask."

He looks at her, frowning. "Yes?"

She breathes in and out. "I need to know the story." He raised an eyebrow, making her elaborate. "Before I do anything at all that may or may not benefit you, I want to know exactly who and what I'm dealing with. I always knew father. I understood him, hence why I knew what to expect. I want to know about you and all out siblings."

Zane locked eyes with her for a moment before his smirk returned. "Well, this is a start. Maybe we can be a happy family after al-"

She death glares him, cutting him off. "Keep in mind, that unless your story convinces me otherwise, you're just an evil monster like father, and I won't hesitate to take you down if I say no to your proposition."

The elder demon's face went blank of emotion. "Very well. The story starts, of course, with me. I was Trigon's first heir."

. . . . .

Location? The harbor. A blonde girl whirls around the corner before skidding to a halt, fear in her eyes. She screams as a looming figure throws a massive punch. However, just before the attack hit, the girl seemed to fade into a teleport, appearing on top of a harbor warehouse. She let out some tears, hugging the man who saved her. "Thank you thank you thank you-" She saw who he was, jumping back. "Aren't you-"

The black clad thief chuckled. "Listen, little girl, I'm only doing this as a job. Frankly, I don't care about your business." The girl backed away from him as a thud was heard. He over to see the large figure from before standing on the roof across from them.

The figure spoke in a tough voice as a man in a mech suit stepped forward. "Adonis would like his parcel, little man." The rough and tough villain cracked the mechanical knuckles of his fists as she started walking towards the two.

The blonde girl stepped behind the thief who saved her, Red X. He looks at Adonis without any reaction. "The tough guy routine doesn't do as well without actual muscles kid. By the way, I wouldn't walk any closer."

Adonis keeps walking. "Why not?" He steps as the roof creaks. He looks down, seeing a massive X mark under him as the section of roof collapses, dropping Adonis into the warehouse.

"X marks the spot." X comments. He grabs the blonde girl, leaping over to a nearby building. The roof they had stood on erupts as Adonis leaps back up.

X jumps again, landing on the ground with Terra in his hands. The two look wide eyed as a blast hits. The two appear behind a stack of barrels. A large mechanical marvel steps up, a cannon arm steaming from having fired. "Lowly thief. You should hand the girl over. After all, Atlas does not enjoy pointless squabbles."

Adonis lands with Atlas, arguing. "He's mine! I'm going to crush the little man."

The blonde shivers in fear as Red X sits her down and disappears. She gasps before looking over at the villains. Atlas is suddenly shocked and hunches over, X on his back. X throws both palms forward, blasting two X laser shots into Adonis to launch him into the warehouse building. He leaps off Atlas to dodge the swiping angry robot. He flips back into a fighting stance.

Atlas pulls his hand back to punch, but a pink spark stalls his arm as it falls apart. Atlas looks shocked as X holds a palm up, blasting Atlas off the harbor and into the water.

The blonde girl turns around to see a pink haired villain, making her scream. Jinx clamps her hand on the girl's mouth. "Shhhhh I'm helping you." The girl's look of fear doesn't leave, making Jinx sigh. "Yeah, I expected that." She removes the hand, satisfied that the blonde didn't scream again.

Red X teleported, Adonis' fist digging into the ground where X had stood. X appears behind him, slapping the mech man's back to leave an electrical x. The x shocks and shuts down Adonis' suit. "What the? What's going on?"

X walked around to look Adonis in the eye. "You lost, 'little man'." The thief pushed Adonis, tipping the mech suit over. He looked over to the two girls. "Bout' time you caught up, Lucky."

Jinx scowled at him. "Why are they after her?" The blonde looks to the thief for answers too.

X shakes his head. "Doesn't she look like someone?"

Jinx looks, indeed the girl looked exactly like Terra. "Yeah, so what? She's obviously not the same person."

The girl, lets just call her Terra, looked fearful. "This has to do with that girl Beast Boy likes? I told him, I'm not her! Why don't you people get a clue?"

Jinx looks wide eyed. "Same voice, too! Wow, but yeah. I agree. Why ARE they after her?"

X chuckled. "Don't know exactly, but. . ." They look over to see Atlas out of the water and Adonis getting up. Both featured glowing red eyes. "All I've been informed is that THEY can't have her."

Jinx gets the girl's attention after sighing. "Just try staying quiet. We'll help ya'." She looks at Red X. "Okay, well I'll help you. He's in it for money."

The girl asks. "And you? I thought you were a bad guy."

Jinx shrugs. "Yeah, I'll have to get back to you on that. Come on!" The three run as the two brutes give chase.

. . . . .

"I was born in the eleventh century, Earth time. This was the time which Trigon began to put all his focus onto conquering Earth." Raven gave him a skeptic look. "I mean ALL. Sure, he'd been pulling minor schemes with the Church of Blood for a few thousand years, but it was this time that he finally started taking a very large interest in this dirtball."

Raven commented. "So his first thought was the sire you?"

Zane shrugged. "All I know is that his plans before me failed. He wasn't too keen on talking about failed plots. Anyway, I was born and immediately brought into teachings over demonic abilities and sorcery. Trigon, having been locked outside this dimension, couldn't come here in person, remember? So, if he couldn't be here himself, what would be the next best thing?"

"His heir." Raven answered.

"Exactly. Thus, I was born specifically with the purpose to come here in full demonic power and level the place in 'daddy's' name." He proclaimed with a smirk. "However, before I could come here, I needed a human form." Raven's confused look was all he needed. "The Earth was all about swords and sorcery back then. One such spell that was in place at the time governed what creatures could enter this world. The requirement was a mortal form."

Raven nodded. "Your body. That's why you created a human one."

He smiled. "Correct. I entered this world, and it was the first time I had contact with beings much weaker than me. I brought the wrath. I believe I'm the reason for that myth about red heads with bad tempers. It was enjoyable, yet boring. No one could stop me. . . well, until I found someone. The spirit Nabu. . ."

Raven's eyes widened. "Dr. Fate?!"

"Yeah. The at time holder of the Helmet of Fate was the only person who stood in my way." He stated matter of factly. "Of course, I had little to no experience facing someone like him, and I was still young. Hell, when I created this body, its physical age was only 9. Funny, after 900 years, my physical age is only 17. Anyway, Fate whooped my ass hard. I had to learn fast and improve quickly just to stay alive. The years went on after several encounters and battles until my power had started to mature enough, plus age started to get to him. So, the day finally came that I won. I killed his host."

Raven's eyes widened. "But-"

"My victory wasn't that long lived. He had a successor who donned the helmet. This man would become my greatest rival." Zane smiled wide. "Man, those were some of the best battles of my life. Both of us powerful with potential. Fighting for our lives and learning as we fought. We adapted to each new strategy the other used. It was fun. FOR ME! For him, not so much. However, the person who enjoyed it the least by far was father."

Raven's eyes glared. "I do not interpret father as patient. You were taking a long time."

Zane nodded. "Yes, so he did the first thing off the top of his head. He had another son."

Raven wondered. "Who was he?"

Zane's eyes showed a hint of sadness. "Depending how you look at it, it was me."

. . . . .

Jinx around a corner with Terra rushing behind her. She thought quickly about the city layout as they moved through the alleys. "Left!" They whirl the corner. "There! Sewer entrance." The two skid to a halt, Jinx tossing off the man hole cover. "Jump in after me, I'll catch ya." Jinx hops down, Terra looking around before doing the same.

Below, Terra covers her nose as Jinx motions her to follow. Terra looked around. "Where did Red X go?"

Jinx rolled her eyes. "Probably to set something up just so he can look like some bada-" The ceiling caves in as Adonis lands.

He snickers at them. "Only a real man would be willing to get dirty for his ladies." He winks at Jinx. "Maybe we should hit it off sometime."

Jinx's expression turned cold as ice. "Not interested. I'm taken." Adonis' whole body sparks pink as his suit is destroyed in an explosion. The real Adonis lays in the sewage as Jinx motions Terra to follow her around the idiot. "Plus, I don't date garbage."

The two walk through the sewers for a full fifteen minutes before Jinx points to an exit. The pink haired girl bursts up into an alley, checking it before gesturing Terra up. The blonde climbed up and asked. "So what's going to happen to me? Are my parents okay?"

Jinx tilted her head. "Parents, huh? Biological?" Jinx couldn't help but be curious.

Terra tilted her head. "Foster parents? Why you ask?"

"No reason." Jinx continues before both girls shriek, Red X landing in front of them. "Stop scaring me!"

"And me please. . ." Terra says quietly behind Jinx.

Red X chuckled. "Atlas is taken care of. I assume Adonis found you?" Jinx nodded. X sighed. "Well, that means we have six more to deal with." He looked at Terra. "I would just hand you off to the Titans, but that could get dicey."

"More than it already is? Just what the hell are you looking after her for?" Jinx replied, getting impatient.

"Like I said. It's a job." X replied. "I don't care why. Only my money."

Jinx scowled. "Bullshit. First you steer me away from my team. Now, you defend Terra from criminals that I have to assume are just working for someone else, right? Why?" Red X turned away and started walking. Jinx and Terra followed. "You told me your 'job' was to make sure those with the potential for good stayed good, right? That's why I was the only one on my team worth helping. Is this the same? You're guarding her because she MIGHT get her old earth powers back and play good guy? Wouldn't that have happened already if this WAS Terra?"

Red X stopped, looking around. "We got company." He looked at them. "Here in a second you'll thank me for getting you off your team."

Jinx tilted her head. "Why?"

Several shots were fired from above as the three all dodged. Jinx looked up to see See-More and Gizmo on the rooftops above. She looked down one end of the alley, seeing Mammoth and Kyd Wykkyd. The other end had Private Hive and Billy Numerous. X noted. "What did I tell you? Six more to go."

Jinx called out. "What the hell are you idiots doing?! What's going on?" To her horror, they all ignored her call. She noticed a dull red glow in each of their eyes as they all charged. "Oh no. . ." She knew who was after Terra now.

. . . . .

"What do you mean it was you? You said you were the first. How can you be the first and the second?" Raven asked, completely confused.

Zane smirked. "Our brother was born and trained quickly and hastily." He ignored her question. "He was sent to Earth with the express mission of giving me the edge of the dear doctor. However. . ."

"However?" Raven asked.

"How often do you accept help? Or even admit fault?" Zane suddenly asked.

Raven, deciding to play along, responded. "Nearly never. I deal with my problems myself without roping others in."

He smiled. "An air of Pride, there. Too proud to admit when over your head? Willing to take an insane amount of punishment before admitting to a weakness? Very stubborn?"

Raven glared. "I AM pride. It's the sin that leads to all others. All demons experience it to an extreme degree."

Zane shook his head. "Not entirely true. It is the sin that leads to all others, yes. All the more ironic that it was the last one used." Raven clearly didn't understand. "Don't you see? Seven children. You are Pride?"

Raven began to realize. "Each of Trigon's heirs represent one of the seven deadly sins? Then yours is. . ." She remembered his saying. _'I brought the wrath!' _and _'Oh god, I went wrathful, didn't I?'_ "You're wrath?"

He nodded with a smile. "My first brother was the embodiment of another sin. He was the embodiment of sloth. Beginning to see the problem of him helping me?"

Raven nodded. "He wasn't any help at all?"

Zane shrugged. "All his powers were support based, mostly mental. He was absolutely useless in a straight fight. So, of course, we ended up in a straight fight. . . Dr. Fate nearly killed him."

Raven seemed impassive. "Nearly?"

Zane frowned. "Despite being a demon, we still feel the full range of emotions. Others are just stronger than some. I went nearly insane seeing my only brother nearly die. I never cared about father's conquest, just the fighting, so seeing brother go down was. . . upsetting. Finally, Fate and I battled to yet another stand still." He then looked down again. "I now know that I could have killed Fate, had the battle continued with how exhausted he was, but he gave me a suggestion. Either save my brother, or continue fighting and let him die without help. Father tried to take direct control of me to make me keep fighting, but I decided to save him."

Raven seemed surprised by this, but she didn't give any reaction.

After about a minute of recollection, Zane continued. "The spell used to save him wasn't a healing spell. I didn't know anything to heal at the time. So, I used a possession spell. . . backwards. I absorbed our brother's essence. Essentially, I am both Wolf, first son of Trigon, and Zane, second son of Trigon." The name caught Raven off guard. Zane smirked. "I use his first name in memory. Since he was a lazy bastard and I was a hyper active killer, our natures conflicted heavily at first. Eventually the bonding became stable, and the me you see before you was the result."

Raven nodded. "The lazy nature. . . it tempered your rage and destructive tendencies."

Zane nodded. "Correct. I'm a bundle of energy with no interest in destruction because I don't see the point. I no longer had a drive to kill, but still enjoyed a good fight. Dr. Fate and I parted ways, promising to never meet again. I abandoned father's quest for the earth after he tried to throw away our brother's life and use me."

Raven remembered Zane's rampage when he first landed outside Jump. "But you said you 'ran wrathful'. . ."

Zane frowned. "While my spirit is a merge between our brother and I, this body was created with all my original instincts. My subconscious operates much like I did before the merger. I refer to that as 'wrathful'."

Raven nodded. "And that's why when you said you were harmless, you said you were 'totally sloth'?" She monotoned sarcastically. "So subtle. So what happened next?"

Zane thought. "About a hundred or so years later. . . our first sister was born. The embodiment of Envy, Lyzza."

. . . . .

Mammoth charged Red X, the thief firing a sticky red x goo into the behemoth, sticking him in place. He teleported away to dodge an attack by Kyd, who teleported to the side to dodge an x blast. Red X lands behind Kyd, kicking his footing out. Private Hive charges X, shield in hand. X engages two wrist mounted x blades that begin spinning as he charges back.

Inside a nearby building, Jinx pulls Terra along a parking garage before getting surrounded by Billy. Jinx snaps her fingers, causing the ceiling above them to collapse on all the Billys, leaving them unharmed. A wire suddenly wraps around Terra, pulling her away with a scream. Gizmo pulls her away with an evil grin as Jinx scowls at him.

Jinx hears a blast before ducking a shot from See-More. She whirled around and launched a hex bolt into the cyclops, planting him into a car. She then turned to see Gizmo head towards the exit. "Terra, brace yourself!" The screaming blonde tries her best to get into a brace position as Jinx collapses the entire building on herself, Gizmo, Billy, See-More, and Terra.

X smacks aside Private Hive and jumps to the side to avoid Kyd before the three, and Mammoth, watch the building fall. From the rubble, Gizmo emerges, his metal wire to Terra disconnected and sparking pink. "Crud!"

See-More and Billy rip out and look around before a pink blast knocks them away. Jinx and Terra roll out of the rubble. "The guys never were in my league." Jinx says smugly. She reaches a hand to Terra, who tries to take it before a bird a rang cuts them off. The eight 'villains' and civilian look up to see four teens on the adjacent roof.

Robin, Cyborg, and Star all gasp, seeing Terra. Beast Boy growls. "You let her go!" He charges into a pterodactyl and charges as the other Titans jump into the fray.

Jinx panics. "Whoe! Wait! I didn't-" Beast Boy charged in, not listening, making Jinx sigh. _God damn it! _

. . . . .

Zane began. "Lyzza, otherwise known as Lyzza the lizard, was a copycat demon. She had the capabilities of copying the abilities and physical attributes of anyone she came into contact with, for a limited period of time."

"Lyzza the lizard?" Raven said dryly. "A lot of reptiles and amphibians can change their appearance, so I guess that gave her the namesake?"

"Correct." Zane said. "She was sent by daddy dearest solely for a suicide mission. She was fanatically loyal to dad, due to her nature. She envied him. She wanted his power and his affections. He took full advantage of that. She was meant to copy the abilities of Earth's protectors and kill herself along with them. That would open Earth up to his future plans."

Raven scowled. "What happened?"

Zane looked like there was fire in his eyes. "I happened. Her copying abilities had a limit. She could copy anyone's abilities, but if someone was so far above her power level, she wouldn't copy the abilities to their fullest. Being our relative, I figured I'd see if I could connect with her. . . I couldn't. She was so loyal to father, she even tried copying his power to let her wipe out Earth's forces." Zane looked away. "I learned to despise our father because of what he did to us all. I decided I didn't want him to succeed, so I took a stand. Lyzza and I fought it out. I won. . ."

Raven's eyes widened. "You killed her?"

Zane was hesitant. "Not exactly. . . The incident ended with both of us heavily injured. However, she simply copied someone's healing factor, recuperating fast enough to come back stronger than me. I SHOULD have killed her the first time. The second time, I'd be dead if not for, surprise surprise, Dr. Fate. He showed up, and Lyzza copied his, mine, and father's abilities. Fate and I managed to kill her together. I should note that this was a much different host than before."

Raven nodded. "She needed to be stopped I guess. We had a friend named Terra who would have been a great hero if not for falling into the hands of Slade. We were forced to stop her, though luckily she changed sides in the end at least."

Zane smirked. "Wasn't fun. Our next sibling is the one I know the least about, having never met him. I know not his name, nor the exact year he was born. He was the symbol of Gluttony. His powers revolved around consuming mass amounts of power to keep himself charged. I believe he was meant to suck the entire planet dry of power, both living and magical. He would then use that power to break the barriers that kept Trigon out of Earth's realm."

Raven commented dryly. "But Dr. Fate stopped him?"

Zane shook his head. "The at time Green Lantern of this sector of the galaxy. He killed him."

Raven was surprised. "I rarely hear of Green Lanterns before the current crop."

Zane snickered. "It probably helps that this planet currently has three of them."

"Who was the next one?"

Zane pursed his lips, then groaned. "This is the one that's still alive." He then looked at Raven with a forced smile. "And she is a bitch. . . and she's also on Earth."

Raven's eyes widened. "She lives here?!"

Zane nods with a gloomy look. "Yep, the epitome of Lust. Born 214 years ago. Deliza is her real name, though her human name changes. . . a lot."

. . . . .

A large wall blows through, Private Hive in a daze. Jinx lands on top of him, Terra in tow. "Shouldn't you be helping the Titans? Or are you actually kidnapping me?" Terra asked.

Jinx replied rudely. "And get my ass kicked? It's four on one!"

Terra just tilted her head at her. "Just explain!"

"You think I'm not trying?!"

An boom caught their attention as Starfire landed in front of them, glowing green. "Let. Her. Go."

Jinx put on the nice guy act. "Hey, Star. Can I call you Star? Well, funny story-" Kyd teleported in, kicking the distracted Starfire before teleporting after her. She turned to Terra. "See!"

Private Hive got up, shaking his head. Jinx pulled Terra away from him just as a red blast hit Hive back. Red X landed. "Problems?"

Jinx sighed. "Yes! Just give her to the Titans."

"Can't." He said plainly.

Several Billys appeared around them. Jinx narrowed her eyes at him. "Whyyyyyy?"

The Billys charged, Jinx pulling Terra down as X round house kicked the first three Billys. Jinx pushed Terra into X's hands as she cartwheeled forward between two charging Billys, blasting them with hexes. She kicked off, jumping over three more and hexing them. Finally, she landed between four, sweeping out one's leg, kneeing another's gut, catching a punch and flipping the third one into the fourth.

She looked quickly flipped back to dodge a thrown pole. Robin lands where she had stood. "What do you want with her?"

Jinx sighs. "If you would sit and listen-"

Robin is kicked from behind by X, who tosses Terra to Jinx. Red X prepares his wrist mounted x blades. "Hey, kid. Long time no see."

Robin scowls, separating his staff into two rods, duel wielding them. "Not long enough." The two charge each other.

Jinx sighs, pulling Terra along. "We need to just get. . . out. . . of here?" Terra and Jinx look up, Terra screaming. A massive green whale descended from above.

Jinx even panicked, thinking quickly and pulled Terra in. _He won't attack her! I know that much! _She places Terra in front of her, causing Beast Boy to change into a bird and land in front of them as a human. "You monster! How dare you use her like that!" He accused.

Jinx suddenly face palmed. "No, really. I didn't do anything. Tell him!" She looks at Terra, who simply stares forward, half traumatized. Beast Boy changes to a raptor, charging. Jinx simply yells. "Traitor!" She hexes the ground, causing Beast Boy to crack through the ground into the sewer below. Jinx pulled Terra's face closer. "The hell?!"

Terra finds her voice, still quiet. "I'm a school girl. I got scared."

Jinx grumbles. "Just my luck. . ." A large green eagle emerges from the hole, only to get shot at and chased by a laughing Gizmo. Jinx comments. "This is just chaos."

A thud catches the two's attention. Jinx turns to see Mammoth charging them. Terra once again screamed, Jinx rolling her eyes and stepping forward. She snaps her finger, cracking the ground apart so Mammoth's legs fall through just before reaching her. He tries to punch her, but she holds both arms out, hexing his punches as his arms just dangle down. She then places a hand on his head, hitting another hex that knocks him out, planting him on his back.

She shakes her head. "You guys really do suck without. Sorry bout your luck." She shrugs and grabs Terra, running down the alley. Cyborg lands, fighting off See-More and several Billys. Jinx was starting to hate life.

Suddenly, Gizmo flew over, dropping a football sized device in the middle of the alley. He tried to fly away laughing before Star and Beast Boy knock him down. They follow. Suddenly everyone is close to the alley as Gizmo looks at his armed device, sweating. "Oh, crud." The bomb goes off, destroying the buildings in the area and knocking everyone on their asses.

Jinx opened her eyes, having been knocked several blocks away by the blast. "Ow. . . I'm going to kill that unlucky little midget." She looks over, seeing Terra beside her in a daze. She looked around, seeing no one else near them. "Oh, hey! Lucky me!" She grabbed the blonde and rushed away.

. . . . .

"Deliza. . . is . . . well, I believe the term whore comes to mind." Zane says bluntly.

Raven looks slightly put off. Zane chuckles.

"Well, you've probably heard the phrase, 'Behind every great man is a woman'. She coined the phrase. Her job was to manipulate world leaders and coerce men into killing eachother off and wasting their resources. She was responsible for nearly every war for the past two hundred years. She'd impersonate or possess the wives of world leaders and make them do horrific things. She also caused both World Wars."

Raven shifted uncomfortably. "Not sure which is worse. Her causing so much death or-"

Zane finished sarcastically. "whoring herself out? Yeah, don't try to think about it. I made the mistake of checking into her habits and. . . weird." He laughed at Raven's face, especially the light tinge of red. "Aw, so sheltered."

Raven glared. "Get on with it."

Zane sobered. "Anyway, I arrived on Earth about 64 years ago when I met her. I make it a point to come in every couple decades to check in on her. Apparently, it became clear that her method of attrition on humanity was taking far too long for father. His impatience ruined what was, all in all, a good plan. He moved on to other endeavors as I found her. After an extensive period, I convinced her to be passive. After all, her ways of life wouldn't work out if 'daddy' took the planet over. So, she's lived here in peace ever since. By far, she's very passive. Lucky for her, she's a full blood demon or she'd probably have caught a disease by now."

Raven shook her head. "Enough details about that. So that leaves just one more sibling. He was Greed?"

Zane sighed. "Yep, born in the 1910s. He was against father from the beginning. I had met him early on, to see what his goals were. See, I didn't think he had any wants to do with father, so I left him to his own devices. That was a mistake on my part because I didn't know that he was an idiot."

Raven tilted her head. "How so?"

Zane gave her a 'really?' look. "His demon name was Evaris. He was the essence of greed. He hated father. Despised him in fact. I had thought he was being smart and just staying out of the conquest. The truth, was that he conspired against father."

Raven's eyes widened. "You mean he. . . how could he think-"

"That he had a chance?" Zane finished. "I don't know. He amassed a fortune along with wealth and power on Earth, along with a large group of super powered criminals. He established his own empire and went into open war with father. Honestly, he did better than most, but father killed him. . . violently. . . brutally."

Raven shook her head. "He should have known better. Foolish."

Zane snickered. "Well, it was that incident that lead father to a conclusion. No matter the form. No matter how devoted they were, all his children would either betray him or give up on his goals. As such, he finally decided to have a child that he knew would openly defy him. He took advantage of that. He had you."

Raven was surprised. "He. . . planned on me defying him?"

Zane frowned. "Yeah. You were meant to defy him and stay in the human realm. The whole prophecy business would happen, and, like it or not, you would bring him into this dimension against your will. However, that was also the most risky plan since it would leave him vulnerable. You were the all or nothing plan. And so, the line ended with you."

Raven thought that over. "One last question." She narrowed her eyes at him. "If you made it a point to check in on siblings whenever you heard about them, why have I never met you. After all, all this could be a lie."

Zane sighed. "You'd detect if I was lying, but I told you I came to Earth thirteen years ago, right?" Raven nodded. Zane locked eyes with her. "I came here to look for you. Deliza and I weren't able to locate you. It wouldn't be until much later that I would find out you were on Azarath. That was knowledge withheld from me. By the time I found out you were on Earth again, I was being told about our father's death at your hands. Why would I come to ruin your victory? From what I could tell, demons despised you for being a half breed, and other's feared you. It was also popular opinion that you hated us as well, which I've found very accurate by your earlier threats to kill me."

Raven nodded. "I. . . see. It seems you've had a very eventful 1000 years. What exactly is your goal now?" He was about to answer before her communicator rang. She opened it. "Raven."

Robin's voice came in. "Come on up to the common room. We need to brainstorm."

Raven looked at Zane. He chuckled. "You have time to get any other answers you need. You seem busy."

Raven looked back at the call. "On my way." She shut the device and walked to the door. She stopped, hesitating. She pulls out a remote, hitting a button, releasing Zane from his restraints. "Stay. Here." She orders. She locks the door as she leaves.

Zane lands on the ground, irritating his wounds. "Ow." He shakily gets up and stretches an arm. He lets out a small smirk. "Baby steps."

. . . . .

"Wait. ALL the HIVE FIVE?" Raven asked.

Robin nodded. "Also, Red X, Atlas, and Adonis. It seemed the different villains were trying to capture the girl who looks like Terra."

Raven felt the anger coming off Beast Boy. She placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him, and it helped slightly. She shook her head. "That doesn't make sense. And Jinx was involved to?"

Cyborg tilted his head. "She leads the HIVE right? Why wouldn't she be there?"

Raven quickly made up a reason for her reaction. "I mean, kidnapping isn't usually her MO, and the others follow her without question. Usually, that is."

Starfire wondered. "She did not attack us directly, which is unusual of the girl."

Cyborg did wonder. "Jinx DID save Rae from those rockets at the jewel store, remember. Maybe there's a dispute going on between her and her team?"

Beast Boy muttered angrily. "I don't care. They should leave Terra out of it!"

Robin nodded. "We'll search for them. In the mean time, we should all try whatever sources we have for information. We don't know what they could be trying."

Raven nodded. _Oh, I am going to kill her for this._

. . . . .

"JINX, WHAT THE HELL?!" Raven snapped, black hair and blue eyes. She stood, staring at two blondes, one with blue eyes and a school outfit, one with pink eyes and her usual black and pink/purple outfit.

Jinx was on the defensive. "HEY! Not my fault! Blame your team. They wouldn't listen! Right?" She looks to Terra.

Terra sweat drops. "I'm not sure I want to be in this."

Jinx points an accusing finger. "Traitor!" She turns to see Raven's glare. "Look, you know I don't do kidnapping. Not my shtick."

Raven sighed. "Okay then, why is everyone after her all the sudden?" She sounded impatient.

Jinx crossed arms. "Lets see. I saw her at the mall yesterday when I was with you. I thought she looked like Terra, so I checked up on her because I thought Terra was dead. Turned out Red X had been looking after her as well when her house was attacked."

Raven raised an eyebrow, looking at Terra. Terra shrugged. "I didn't know anyone was following me."

Jinx sighed. "So me and Red X had kept her away from Adonis and Atlas all night, beat their asses by noon, then ran into my team." Jinx sighed. "They didn't even bat an eyelash when I asked them to stop."

Raven could sense the slight fear and hurt from Jinx. "What's wro-"

"It's Brother Blood." Jinx spat, catching Raven off guard. "Their eyes were glowing red at times and they seemed to be following orders. He's the only one I know of that could do that." She crossed her arms, angry. "I think he plans on going into her head and seeing for sure if she's Terra or not. If she is, he'll turn her into another slave. Apparently, Red X's new job partner is paying him to keep certain individuals safe and out of Blood's hands, or so I assume. He lead me to quitting my team to keep me from falling under control with them."

Raven calmed down and nodded. "Then my team went in and, seeing Terra, didn't ask many questions without attacking. It turned chaotic." It made sense. "Now, we just have to find out who Red X is working with, and it'll be clear what's going on."

"So what's our next move?" Jinx asks. Raven glares at her.

"OUR next move? MY next move is taking Terra to Titan's Tower. Protecting her until this whole mess is done and over with."

Jinx narrowed her gaze. "Just so someone else can target her down the road? Why don't YOU simply go check inside her head." Terra shivered at that.

"But. . . I'm not that girl." Terra tried to argue.

Jinx sighed. She tried to sound sympathetic, but still sounded irritated. "Sorry, but shut up. If you're right, you have nothing to be scared of. You'll be proven right and can go on your merry way. Problem is, you were adopted as a child with amnesia just under a year ago at the end of October. Like I said, I checked up on you. You fit the description perfectly and 'I'm not that girl' doesn't cut it as an argument."

Raven was surprised at that information. _End of October. . . my birthday was on October 23__rd__. . . _She looked at Terra. ". . . I hate to say it, but if we get a definite answer, it would solve a lot of problems, but I'm not doing it without your permission." She turned back to Jinx. "If she says no, then no. I'm taking her back to the tower. Fine?"

Jinx sighs. "Well, it's not like I'm going to hold her down and force her." She looks at Terra.

The blonde looks between them, sighing. "I'll do it. Check my head so I can go home in peace." Terra then looked at the two. "So when did you start dating Raven from the titans?"

That statement made both super powered teens freeze, realizing they just fucked up. They both stared at Terra, then back to each other. "Oh shit" was muttered by Jinx.

Terra smiled slightly. "At least I don't feel as afraid of you anymore."


	8. Chapter 8

_**GNN NEWS: Lori Prince Live.**_

The title graphic appears with several cracks and burned sections in the background. The desk appears with a new face behind it, a young woman in harlequin clothes. She spoke in a chipper voice. "Ello! Good evening and welcome to the Uncle J Live show. I'm your host, Mrs. J.!"

A voice to the side catches her attention. "You'll never get away with this!"

She rolls her eyes and smiles back to the camera, which started to shake. She looks at the camera man and pulls out a gun. "HEY! Keep that thing straight!" The camera stiffened, but still rumbled. A big smile came back to the girl's face. "Good! Joining me today is world famous classical king of laughs by satellite phone, the Joker. Hey sweetums!"

A picture graphic stands in for the Joker. His voice came in. "Hello, my dear! Hope you'll bring me good news today."

"And also with us is good old Lori Prince!" The camera pans over to find Lori tied up in a chair.

"Someone call Batman!"

The camera goes over to Harley, who looks at a ringing phone. "We have our first caller!" She answers. "Hello caller, you are on the air-"

A deep authoritative voice rings. "Where is he?"

Harley slams the phone down with a nervous smile. "It seems our caller has cut out. Let's see today's subject, shall we!" She picks up a slip of paper, frowning. "Titan's have made a full recovery! What shlock!"

Joker's voice came in, enthusiastic. "Ooo, the Titans? I wonder how Robbie boy's doing. I'd say hi if Bats wasn't so much fun."

The phone rang again, Harley answering. "Ello!"

"You know how this ends." The same deep voice from before cut in.

Joker answers. "Hey, Bats, be sure to get here by 7:30. I want to get the guest spot on Gotham Tonight for the 8 o'clock news. Would you be so kind?"

Harley hangs up the phone. "We've already gotten more calls than you ever did, Lori!"

Joker snickers. "Seriously, the quality of this news show has gone down significantly since new management took over."

Harley frowns. "Tell me about it." She then brightens. "Now, let us give you a list of Mr. J's demands." She coughs and pulls up a list. "Number 1 – a giant bowl of purple M & Ms." She looked over to Lori. "Do they even make those anymore?"

Lori shook his head, Joker's voice rang in. "GIVE ME PURPLE M & MS GOTHAM CITY! Or else I will blow up an M&M factory on the hour, every hour."

Another phone ring sounded, a text ring. Harley picked up a cell phone. "I will read. Ehem. 'Restricted number. You are not getting your purple M&Ms Joker.'"

Joker retorts. "See! The Bat DOES have a sense of humor! He'll come. I'll prepare a couple bombs. Wrap some people in explosives. Blow up some rooftops. We'll have lots of fun!"

Harley smiles. "This has been Harley Quinn Li-" The ceiling blows up as a black figure lands on Harley. The girl screams in surprise as the channel cuts to static. . .

. . . . .

Terra sat on a couch, staring at the static. She blinked a few times before gulping. "I don't like the possibility of being a hero with amnesia."

Jinx came into the room, the two in an apartment. She had just finished a shower. Jinx laughs. "Really? I mean being the villain is definitely more fun but-"

Terra points a finger at the TV. "I don't want to deal with that!"

Jinx laughs. "Okay, there are VERY few people in the whole world you should have to worry about acting like that."

Terra nods, but doesn't look reassured. She took a look at the pink haired girl. "So, are you good or. . ."

Jinx thought about it. "I haven't committed a crime since I left my team. . . but I haven't really thought about it."

Terra smirked. "You're good then. You should join the Titans."

Jinx pursed her lips before busting out into a near Joker laugh. She clutched her side and almost fell as she heaved and gasped for air through laughs. She finally calmed and chuckled a little more. "Yeah? No."

Terra looked at the girl like she was nuts. "Well, you wouldn't get beat up for trying to help. Do you plan on fighting them?"

Jinx still laughed. "I don't really consider joining them a possibility. Bad luck can't do much good if you catch my drift."

Terra thought a moment. "Well, you helped save me. That's good, right?"

Jinx smirked. "Trust me. It isn't my nature."

Terra muttered. "So it's in your nature to date a Titan, but not be good?"

Jinx was taken back by that. "Well, um thats. . . different. That was a misunderstanding that just. . . stuck."

Terra smiles. "Then obviously, you misunderstand yourself."

Jinx snickered. "Tell me that when you have YOURSELF understood." She turns around towards the kitchen as she mutters. "Hey pot! I'm kettle. Did you know you're black?"

The door knocked, putting Jinx on alert. She inched to the door, peeking through the hole. She sighed in relief to see black hair and the color blue. Jinx opened the door as 'Rachael' walked in. The door shut as Raven turned to see Jinx, immediately turning red seeing Jinx in a towel. "Really?" She spoke.

Jinx laughed. "I can't control when YOU get here. Like it?" She tries doing a sexi pose, but Raven simply turns away. "HEY! When I give you eye candy, you look damn it!"

Raven changed her looked to normal, still wearing her civilian clothes. "If I'm here to do something as delicate as this, are you sure you want to do something that might harm my control?"

Jinx smiled. "So you DO like it? I knew it." This made Raven sigh and pinch the bridge of her nose.

Raven looks tiredly at Terra. "You can just say no to this, and I'll leave."

Terra snickers. "Actually, it's very entertaining. Cute even."

Both Raven and Jinx redden and mutter. "Shut up." Raven turns to Jinx, getting slightly redder. "Go change!"

Jinx laughs again as she heads to the bedroom. Terra give Raven her full attention. "Alright, so. . . how's this work?"

Raven looks at her closely. For a moment, her mind flashes to all her moments of conflict with Terra in the past. She shakes her head. "I need to know one thing, first. Going into this, what are you hoping the result is?"

Terra looks away. "I'm. . . hoping I'm not this Terra girl. Then I could just go home and live my life."

Raven narrowed her eyes. "And if you are in fact Terra? What will you do then?"

Terra shrugs. "Wouldn't that depend on what I find out? But. . . I don't know. I might just go back home anyway and not do the hero thing, but if I'm able to help, I might. It's just. . ."

"Nerves?" Raven answered for her. "You don't know how you'll cope with it. It's okay. Terra was always like that. That's not a good thing, but nor is it bad. You'll have help. Just remember it this time."

That sentence made Terra uncomfortable. 'Just remember it this time.' It was spoken slightly with irritation. Maybe even anger. She nodded as Jinx came back in, wearing her own civilian clothes.

Jinx looked over at Terra. "You wanna change into something else, or. . ."

Terra nodded. "Yes, please."

. . . . .

Terra laid down on the couch, wearing black pants and a black tank top. "So how's this going to work?"

Raven concentrated as her black soul self power teleported a bag in. She reaches in, pulling out a demonic looking mirror. Jinx looks at said mirror. "Hey, I think I remember seeing that once."

Raven glared at her. "When you guys took our tower over, and thanks. Now, I know it was you that entered my room." She finished coldly.

Jinx smiled. "If I'm lucky, I'll get in there again."

Raven ignored her. "This mirror is for meditation. Currently, it is linked to me. This mirror is a physical portal into my own psyche."

Terra looked at it wide eyed. "That sounds weird. You can be in your own head?" Raven nodded.

Jinx whistled. "Why didn't I play with that?"

Raven answered. "Because you wouldn't be alive if you did." She said dryly. "My mind is a dangerous place."

"I can imagine." Jinx joked.

Raven elaborated. "My mind is disjointed. Each of my separate emotions harbors a different part of my mind that's separate from the real me. This is something unique to me only. Should someone go into my mind unprepared, they risk getting harmed by my more dangerous emotions, like Rage."

Jinx stopped smiling. "Oh. . . that makes sense."

Terra was surprised. "So, that's why-"

"That's why me showing or even experiencing emotion is dangerous." Raven answered the forming question.

Jinx frowned. She remembered Raven clutching her head after their first kiss and trying to repeat her mantra. When Jinx had grabbed her, she looked back with those four red eyes.

"But back to the point." Raven got their attention. "I'm going to use this on you instead. I'll link this mirror with YOUR mind, and I'll enter it."

Jinx tilts her head. "What am I gonna do?"

Raven looks at her. "You will guard this place. Even if it's your apartment, there's no guarantee that no one knows we're here." Raven's eyes widened suddenly. "Wait! How can you afford this place?"

Jinx scratched the back of her head with a nervous smile. ". . . remember the jewel store? . . ." _About a couple hundred thousand dollars worth of stolen jewelry pawned off. . . _

Raven face palmed. "Of course. . ." She looked at Terra. "So, are you okay with this?"

Terra thought. "Can I come into my own mind with you?"

Raven shook her head. "You should stay out here. We don't need you getting injured in your mind and ending up brain dead."

Terra nodded. "Okay. . . I'm ready."

. . . . .

Raven floated in the bright blue sky. It was hot. Raven unzipped her civilian jacket. She looked around, seeing nothing but ocean below. _Okay, so my mind is broken into sections for each emotion. Terra's will only be one massive section. Weird. I thought it would be earth based like her, but I see nothing but water. _Raven looked around, seeing a small dot in the distance. She flew closer.

Raven found herself coming upon a large island. "What is this?" The island contained flat, two dimensional panels floating ball all over the place, through the trees and the mountain. Each picture contained. . . memories. These were school memories of the past year. She saw various other memories that were nothing more than glimpses of other children their age, doing activities as mundane as using a cell phone. "I see." Raven said out loud. "This island represents the only part of her left." She looks out to the open ocean. "Everything else is gone." She looks under the water, finding it too deep and cloudy to see through. _Ocean water isn't this cloudy. _

She hears a chuckle. She wheels around, seeing Terra, or rather, Terra in her old clothes. The dirty rag like clothes when she first met the titans. "Hi!"

Raven looked at her. "Terra?"

"Who?" The blonde tilted her head.

Raven shook her head. "Who are you?"

Terra thought to herself. "Don't know. Though, if you're here, maybe we could play around a bit."

Raven looks around. "How?" Her answer was a glob of mud smacking her in the face.

Terra laughed. "Come on!" She ran in the opposite direction, leaving an infuriated Raven behind her.

Raven sighed and calmed. _Well, she acts like Terra used to. That confirms who this girl is. _She looks around again. _Everything left of her mind revolves around. . . well, being normal. Terra always wanted a home to be accepted at. Maybe. . . her mind only hung on to what Terra wanted deep inside. Being a normal girl. Would explain the behavior differences. The Terra outside would kill herself for getting dirty._

Raven was knocked from her thoughts when she's tackled. She looks to find Terra on top of her. "You know, when someone invites you to play, you play along." She gets up, smiling at Raven.

Raven sighs. "Who are you? Anything you know would help."

Terra's stare lost all emotion. "I. . . I just know the things that happen here. I know I'm happy. I don't really care about who I am."

"I see." Raven answered. "You're Terra's subconscious. The amalgamation of all her emotions. You're a care free girl, so that's how you act."

Terra shrugs. "Whatever you say."

Raven looked at the ocean waves. _There weren't waves before. . . _"Quick, I need you to concentrate on the name."

"What name?" Terra says, slightly worried.

"Terra." Raven repeats.

"I. . ." Terra's eyes narrow as she thinks. She scratches her head, thinking. The waves on the shore grow slightly, only a few inches. Suddenly, the island give a small tremor. Not enough to knock you over, but enough to scare you. Terra's eyes widen. "Oh no. . . that hasn't happened since. . ."

Raven narrowed her eyes. "Since what?"

"Since everything got unfrozen."

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Frozen?"

"Still." Terra answered vaguely.

Raven understood. _So everything was fine in her mind until she broke free from her petrified state. . . then everything else broke off. She was found just within two weeks of my birthday- wait. . ._ She remembered. When her father entered this dimension, everything turned to ruin. Everyone turned to. . . stone. _But, then I killed father, and everyone. . . _She looked at Terra, wide eyed. _Turned. . . back. That's what did it! Me killing him turned her back along with everyone else! _Raven was elated to find the cause. Now, she knew a basis for the situation.

Terra looked at her weirdly. "You seem oddly happy."

Raven smiled at Terra. "I found out something. Thank you. By the way, when you remember everything, be sure to thank me." Raven burst into the sky. She looked around again at the ocean, the waves much smaller than before.

Raven began speaking her thoughts aloud. "So, Trigon's death brought her out of petrification along with everyone else. She was found within a day or so of that, then." She looked into the water. "Everyone who was petrified had no memory of what occurred while they were petrified, however Terra was already petrified. Maybe. . . the part of Trigon's spell that negated memory? Since Terra was petrified much long than anyone else, the effects fractured her mind, causing the amnesia?"

She slowly floated down, hovering just over the water. She looked around. "I'm sure that's it. Now, just need a way for her to get it all back. I need to locate it first." She floated upwards before diving down into the water.

. . . . .

Jinx and Terra watched TV. Terra's eyes were shut closed as she held her head. "Ow. Headaches."

Jinx was about to comment when Terra's hands clamped onto her head. She let out a pained grunt as Raven blasts out from the mirror on the coffee table. Raven lands on her back. "Ow. . ." Raven mutters.

Jinx looked at Terra, who stopped holding her head and just breathed heavily. "So. . . memory back?"

Terra thought a moment. "Nope. Nothing." The two on the couch looked at Raven who got up.

"Well, you're Terra. One hundred percent confirmed." She groaned.

Jinx smirked as Terra opened her mouth to argue, but stopped. "You're sure? What's her mind like?"

Raven sighed. "Her mind is very representative of her power. Her current memories are housed on a lone island. All else is sunk and covered by a massive ocean. Cloudy water. Represents the cloudy feeling she gets when trying to remember stuff."

Terra looked down. "How come I still can't remember?"

Raven sighed. "I can't raise it. Only you can. I'll head back in after a rest." Raven looked at the blonde girl with her face buried within her hands. "If it helps, I'm going to be taking you this time."

Terra looked up, slight excitement in her eye. Jinx went to the kitchen. "Want a drink?" Raven opened her mouth, Jinx cutting her off. "Tea, I know. I was talking to her."

Terra sighed with a small smile. "Surprise me."

. . . . .

Raven and Terra appeared in the sky, Terra screaming and squirming before noticing that she wasn't moving. She turned red and looked at Raven. "Sorry. . ."

Raven smirked as she kept Terra afloat with her. The two descended down towards the same island as before. "You'll find your subconscious here somewhere."

Terra looked around, frowning at the mud and dirt on the island. "What's she like?"

Raven smirked. "She's like the old you." A mud ball smacks Raven in the head, making her smirk die right away. "dirty and pretty much asking for me to kill her."

Terra looked over to find her subconscious self with a couple floating masses of rock beside her in dull yellow glows. Other Terra drops the rocks and looks at her outside self. "Whoa. What am I doing here?"

Raven gets up, wiping the mud off. "That depends. Do you remember who you are yet?"

Other Terra shakes her head. Outside Terra looks over herself. "You look a little rowdy, but I can't complain."

Other Terra smirks. "Maybe you don't remember how much fun dirt is."

"Terra?"

Both girls look over. "What?"

Raven blinked a couple times. "You both responded?" She looked at Other Terra. "You remember your name now?"

Other Terra scratched her head. "Yeah, but it hurts to think about."

Outer Terra asked. "What do I have to do?"

Raven gestured for the real Terra to come with her, leaving the subconscious behind as they approached the beach. "You're going to raise your memories."

Terra quirked her eyebrow. "How?"

Raven continued walking into the ocean, pulling Terra along. Terra resisted for a moment, but Raven tugged her under the water. "Here you are." She watched Terra clutching at her own throat. "You're in your mind. You can't drown. Just breath."

Terra loosens her grip, opening her eyes slowly. Once she made out the sight, her eyes snapped open. Before them stood the iconic Titan's Tower, ruined and underwater. She gasps, finding the same two dimensional images of memories floating around the sunken tower. She looked into the distance, finding entire towns and locations in the distance. The memories here all came from before. Before she turned to stone. Before she turned to Slade. Before she met the Titans. She saw all the different scenes play out.

"Touch one." Raven instructed. Terra looked at her like she was crazy. "Seriously. Touch one, and the memory will come to you. You'll feel and hear everything you felt and thought as the memory happened in perfect detail."

She looked through them, trying to see one she wanted to know about. Her excitement melted away as she withdrew her hand from one. "I don't know. . ."

Raven looked sympathetically into Terra's eyes. "You're scared. What are you afraid of?"

Terra took a deep breath. "I'm afraid of what I might turn out to be."

Raven gives her a plain look. "I wouldn't worry. You've always been afraid of what might happen or what might come to be." Terra looks at Raven, confused. Was that a reassurance or an insult? Raven takes Terra's wrist slowly, pulling it lightly towards a memory of her choosing. "Today, you're going to face your fears like you should have done in the beginning. Then," Raven smiles slightly. "You're going to come back home." Raven selects the memory for her, pressing Terra's hand into the image as the image glows and disappears. Terra's eyes widen. Raven speaks. "I want to trust you, Terra. How can you get my trust?"

Terra speaks absent minded. "I can start by trusting you."

. . . . .

A knock sounded on the door. Jinx approached slowly before the door explodes, blowing her back onto her couch. "Ow." She looks up.

The blue skinned man with a big nose and magician clothes waves a wand. "MUMBO JUM-"

A pink hex launches the villain back out the door. Jinx quickly grabs Raven's mirror and hurled herself out a window into an alleyway. She lands perfectly and looks up. "Crap."

A man in golden armor and a black undersuit glares at her. "Young girl, you will hand that mirror over. Its fate is written, and so is yours should you resist."

Jinx steps back. "Warp." Mumbo appears from a puff of smoke at the other end of the alley. "Mumbo?" Jinx snickered. "So Brother Blood is taking anyone these days, huh? Even those with no talent?"

Jinx took a fighting stance as Warp stepped closer. "Brother would like to speak with you. You used to be one of his top."

Jinx pretends to think it over. "Yeah? Well-" She blasts Warp back before hitting the ground with a hex, dropping her underground into a subway. She sprints down the tunnel. The tunnel suddenly lights as a subway train rolls through. "OH COME ON!" She looks around for a spot to dodge the train. She hexes the roof, cracking two spaces on the roof. She leaps up, gripping the two spots with her hands and flattening herself against the ceiling as the train runs through as break neck speeds. As the train rushes by, she lets go, landing on the roof of a train car and letting it carry her away.

. . . . .

Hours later, Starfire flew over the city. She looked around, finding nothing of note. She suddenly gasps and lights up as she flies in front of a billboard. . . a My Little Ponies poster. "Little Ponies are coming?!" She let out a squeal. "So cute!" She hears a soft boom in the distance.

Star flies in the direction, hearing several more explosive noises. A large plume of smoke appears with a crashing BOOM, a pink spark jolting around the smoke. Starfire continues towards the location until she sees the figures below.

Jinx breaths heavily with her arms hanging lazily. Her eyes glow pink while she wears civilian clothing. She also looks beat up, but still able to fight. Jinx mutters. "Come on, Rae. Get your ass out here. I can't keep this up."

Star looks over to see Warp and Mumbo on the ground beside a large plume of smoke. From the smoke, several men in white contamination suits step forward with several weapons with glowing red shots ready to fire. With them was Dr. Chang.

Jinx grits her teeth. "I've had enough of you!" She releases a widespread pink shock, causing the weapons of most the troopers to overload and explode, taking out a large portion of the henchmen. The rest charge through the smoke, firing at will.

Jinx ducks a shot, spinning on the ground in a break dance move to dodge another before launching herself to a building wall to dodge again. She kicks off the wall in another dodge, flipping in the air before landing and sending a hex to hit an attacker.

Starfire debates her choices. If Jinx DID have Terra, then she should capture Jinx herself, but would have problems there with the other villains. Also, if Jinx lost and got captured, there goes their lead. She then looked closer, seeing Raven's mirror hanging from a bag tied around Jinx's torso. Star gasps, eyes glowing green as well as her fists.

Jinx dodged another shot before the ground below her erupted up, knocking her into a dumpster. She looks to see a giant metallic heart bring itself up. Jinx scowls, hexing the tentacles that try to wrap her, but the distraction leaves her open, a red beam blasting her into and through the dumpster, sending her skidding across the ground.

She slowly tries getting up. "Yeah. That hurt." She looked up, seeing Mumbo and Warp appearing with Chang and his men. They all close in. Jinx raises one hand barely, the hand glowing a much brighter shine than usual. "Stop! I. . . don't want to kill any of you."

Chang scoffs. "Big talk for a little girrrl. Men! Take her down!"

Jinx spat. "Bucked tooth little shit." She prepares to blast, but a giant green blast plants Kardiak into the underground. Warp looks up, just to get a green glowing fist in his jaw. Star lands, blasting an eye beam all around.

Mumbo turns into birds, leaving his hat behind as it falls. As soon as the beam passes over, he crawls out the hat and dusts off. "Now, that is just a rude entrance on the climax."

Starfire flew backwards, grabbing the injured Jinx and flying a good distance away. Jinx yells out. "Wait! You're saving me? You weren't the one sneaking around."

Starfire looks confused. "What do you mean?"

Chang's men help Warp up as Mumbo checks Kardiak. "It seems this heart's broken."

Chang looks over, seeing a small x shocking Kardiak every time it moves. Chang's eyes widen as the group looks where Jinx was standing a few steps ago, seeing Red X. Red X's eyes narrowed slightly. Chang gulped. "This won't be good."

Star lands at the harbor, not far from where Jinx had fought Adonis and Atlas. Star let the girl down. "You are hurt." Star stated, not entirely sympathetic but trying.

Jinx shook her off. "It's okay. I got it."

Star asked. "Where is friend Terra?!" Star asked, slightly angry.

Jinx sighed. "Damn it. Um, well. . ." Jinx gave a nervous smile. "You are going to laugh your ass off when you hear this, but here's the deal-"

"The 'deal'. . ." A new dramatic voice rang. "Is that you have something that I want." Several individuals in HIVE cloaks began to surround them. "And this may sound cliché, but. . ." A familiar elder teacher came forward, eyes glowing red and smiling. "we have ways of making you talk."

Star gasps. "Brother Blood?" Jinx tries to take a combat stance, but collapses to her knees. Star takes one, eyes glowing green. The cloaked individuals rip their cloaks off, revealing yellow cyborgs, the Cyclones.

Jinx sighs. "Damn it, Rae. Hurry up!" Starfire looked at her confused before the Cyclones began to close in.

Star charges with a war cry, smashing through three enemies then blasting four more. Two grab her arms from behind, but she flies into the air and comes crashing down, smashing them into the ground. She kicks off of a Cyclone, blasting two more as they all started attacking her with sonic cannons. She started doing aerial maneuvers to dodge as she fired back.

Jinx just repeatedly blasted the Cyclones as they came in, making them fall apart and explode. She ducks a sonic shot and blasts a robot behind her. She dodge rolls between the legs of one, letting it take a shot for her. She fires another bolt wiping out three more. Two more behind her nearly strike her down before Star rips through them from behind.

The two girls go back to back, Star feeling Jinx lean back on her for support. She notices Jinx swaying slightly. "You are too injured."

Jinx just half asses a thumbs up. "I'm. . . good."

Blood applauds. "I'm very impressed with your stamina, my dear Jinx. You've been fighting off my pawns for hours now. Not to mention any wounds you might have after yesterday. You've improved since the HIVE."

Star turns to support Jinx, who's eyes were glossy, her vision starting to blur. Star then noticed several scrapes and accumulated wounds all over her. Jinx couldn't see Blood directly, so she just flipped him off in his general direction.

Blood grew angry. "Such insolence. Kill them." The Cyclones moved in before an entire group is hit with thrown x stars perfectly, shutting them down. Red X lands in the middle with the girls.

"Now, Now. I think the old man has creeped enough on little girls today."

Blood frowned as he backed away into the shadows of a warehouse. The remaining cyclones prepared to attack. Starfire just grew more confused with X's appearance.

The thief noticed, too. "Hey, beautiful. Did you ever reconsider that date I offered?"

Star glared at him with glowing eyes, but Jinx answered. "X. . . shut. . . the fuck. . . up. . ."

X looked at her. "Lucky ain't doing too good, but we don't have time." The Cyclones all charge the three. Just before they reach, Raven's mirror glowed. The three were engulfed in black shields as the ground around them all erupted. . .

The entire area covered in dirt and debris. The three opened their eyes. Jinx found herself being supported by Raven, who looked very much worried. Star was right on the other side of Jinx, seeing Raven with a look of shock. They were on a floating rock. Red X was on another floating rock. In front of them all, Terra floated on a rock, eyes glowing yellow with a golden glow from her hands. "Once and for all, you are going to LEAVE. ME. ALONE!"

Below them, the entire area was a rocky mess, all the Cyclones smashed and destroyed. Terra descended the five onto the ground, letting out a sigh. She turned, immediately getting tackled by Starfire. "FRIEND! You have your powers! Does this mean?"

Terra's spine contorted as she squeaked out. "Ehcack- Yes, Star. Back and chipper. please let me down." Star put her down as they turned to Raven, who was healing Jinx. Terra asked first. "She okay?"

Raven nodded. "Just severe exhaustion. Minor blood loss. A fracture here or there." She removes her hands, Jinx getting up and stretching.

"Ohhh, that feels nice." Jinx smiles before seeing Starfire. She got a fearful look on her face, looking at Raven.

Raven looked more panicked in the eyes, but otherwise didn't react. "Um. . . Star-"

"Jinx is a friend now?" She says, confused.

Terra, seeing the red light, moved in. "YES! She helped save my life yesterday. You guys just wouldn't let her talk."

Star still looked confused, looking at Raven with an skeptic look uncharacteristic of Starfire. Raven sighed. "So, here's the deal."

They all suddenly noticed the presence of Red X, who sat patiently. "Ignore me. I'm going to enjoy the show."

Raven looks at Star. "I'll explain in a minute." She turns to Red X. "Who are you working for?"

Red X chuckles. "Sunshine, you might want to check your calender."

Raven was confused, asking Starfire. "Check the date for me?"

Star looked at her communicator. "It is the 20th of October."

Raven looked at Red X. "What about it?"

X chuckled. "A bit slow aren't we birthday girl?"

Raven's eyes burned with fury as she created black energy talons, attempting to grab him, but he teleports away. Starfire gasped, Jinx and Terra both looking confused. Raven's eyes narrowed. _Only one person calls me that. _

"_Hello, Birthday girl." An ominous voice greets her. _

"_Oh, and happy birthday." Raven was released, falling down the side of a skyscraper. _

Raven turns back to them. One thought rang in her head. She looks up at Starfire. She nods at the alien, getting a worried look in response. "We'll have to discuss it later. For now." She looks at Jinx and Terra. She then looks back to Star again. "Um. . ."

Jinx chuckles awkwardly. "Where to begin?"

Terra stood over with Starfire. "Actually, I'm curious too." Getting a huge grin. "I want the full story here."


	9. Chapter 9

"You're positive? Not a single lead on him?" Robin asked through his communicator. "Anything at all would be helpful."

A calm headed voice came in. "I'll check again." Silence a moment. "Nada. There's isn't a trace of the guy here. You sure you don't want me stopping by in Jump? You know I could search the city-" A half second pause. "-like that for that Terra girl, right?"

Robin shook his head. "No, we have that covered for now. If the situation goes out of hand, then I'll be sure to call you."

"And I'll be there in a flash." The call ended, Robin sitting in front of his wall of leads. He looked up, finding nothing he hadn't seen a thousand times before starting a new call.

"Robin to Cyborg. Any leads?"

Cy's voice came in. "Man, I can't get anything out of any of my contacts. It's like Terra dropped off the map. What about you?"

Robin sighed. "Nothing on her location. I did find that she's a target for the majority of the city's criminals."

"What else is new?" Cyborg grumbled. "They've always terrorized her. Ever since Slade-"

Robin interrupted. "Someone is pulling the strings through. The MO's of a lot of the bad guys has changed drastically in the past few weeks alone. No one is sure why, but someone is behind the scenes."

"You think it's Slade?" Cyborg put forth.

Robin sighed. "It doesn't seem like it. They're not very organized. Plus, Slade could always tell when something was a lost cause. He gave up on me. I would think he'd give up on Terra after she caused his initial death."

"I see. Anyway, I'm heading in. Get some dinner on. Check BB. He's been more than a little. . ."

"I know." Robin's eyes narrowed. "I'll talk to him. Robin out." He cut off the call, starting a new one. "Beast Boy, you there?"

"Yeah. . ." Beast Boy said groaning.

"How's the search?"

"Nothing at all. Only thing that gave me something was checking in on Adonis at the prison."

Robin quirked an eyebrow. "What did he tell you?"

"Just that about a week ago everything went hazy in his vision after meeting someone. Couldn't remember their face, voice, or anything."

Robin nodded. "So we're dealing with someone adept in mind control."

"Mad Mod?" Beast Boy offered, sounding slightly tired or maybe irritated.

Robin sighed. "If it was that simple, I wouldn't think so many criminals would be affected. Mod isn't that big a deal. I doubt this is something he could ever hope to pull."

Beast Boy wondered. "Well, the only other person who has any mental. . . stuff is Brother Blood. But wasn't he all cyborged up? They took him apart and locked him up."

Robin nodded. "That's what I thought too when I had that conclusion a while ago, but I'll check with Titan's East later. They'll be the ones to know about it."

"Right, Beast Boy out." BB cut off. Robin noted the depressed note in his voice.

Robin initiated another call. "Starfire, how's everything going for you?"

Star appeared on the video for the T Communicator sweat dropping. "The search goes well! I-I mean poor. Nothing to speak of. I'm busy, see you tonight, friend Robin." The call cut out. Robin just stared at it.

_That's going to need an explanation. _He starts another call. "Raven? Raven are you there?" Nothing. _There's two explanations needed. Raven always answers._

. . . . .

The four girls stared at Raven's communicator. Star smiled nervously, Terra frowned, Jinx snickered, and Raven didn't react. "Ignore it."

"Robin will have questions." Star replied weakly.

Terra muttered. "He'll have questions anyway."

Jinx chuckled. "With an awful act like yours." Star turned red as Jinx laughed. "Don't worry."

Star just stared at Jinx for a moment. Raven seeing the questions forming in Star's head. "Starfire, you remember our trip to the mall with Jennifer?"

Starfire nodded, tilting her head confused. Jinx scratches the back of her neck nervously. "You hug really really hard, not that it's a bad thing."

The alien's eyes bugged as she pointed to Raven, then to Jinx. The other hand pointed to Jinx, then over to Raven. Then they crossed sides, then to the same person, then different directions. Her glances went between the two before just staring forward. Terra said lowly. "Um. . . I think you broke her."

Jinx sighed. "Short story, both me and Raven met under secret identities. Went out. Found out our identities. Kept hanging out. I quit my team, which is why I'm the only one not under Bloods control, and thanks to Red X, I got dumped with Terra." She looked to Terra. "No offense."

Terra chuckled, remembering being a screaming schoolgirl as she and Jinx were tossed around. "None taken. It was pretty funny."

Raven simplified further. "Jinx is good now, Star."

Star was still blank for half a second before exploding in a smile. Jinx nearly transcended light speed as she is taken into Star's arms and crushed. "I am so happy for you and my Earth sister Raven!"

Raven just looks weirdly. _First Cyborg, now Star thinks of me as a sister. Next Robin's going to consider himself my mother. _She nearly laughs at the thought before going wide eyed. "So, you're fine with this?"

Star let go of Jinx, who falls to the ground before shakily getting up. "Why would I be against what makes you happy?"

Raven muttered. "Dating a criminal?"

Jinx let out at 'aw'. "That's the first time she admitted we're dating."

Raven glared at her. "Not now. We need to figure out an excuse for this."

Star was still hung up on the news, turning to Jinx. "She was smiling whenever she had kissed you at the mall."

Terra snorted a laugh. "That's so cute."

Black tendrils of energy cover all three of the girl's mouths, getting their attention to Raven who smirked. "Now, CHILDREN. What are we telling Robin?" Jinx raised her hand, her mouth still covered. Raven just spoke. "YOU'RE not going. We need a excuse for Terra only."

Terra raised her hand next. The energy around her mouth disappeared. "Ow. How about. . . you intercepted Jinx before she handed me over to Blood?"

Raven quirked an eyebrow. "That simple? How do we explain your powers?"

Star raised a hand next, Raven letting her speak. "Could we not just go to him with the truth?"

Raven sighed. "Yes, and how is that supposed to go?" Star thought a moment, then sighed. "Thought so."

Jinx raised a hand again. Raven let her go. Jinx took a big breath. "You know the whole 'tying us up with your powers' just gave me some ideas-" Raven's glare made her stop to burst in laughter. "But seriously? You need a lie and you didn't let me talk first? Ex- villain here."

"Okay. . . go ahead." Raven asked cautiously.

Jinx looked at Starfire. "What were you doing in the city before saving me?"

"I was searching for clues on Terra."

Jinx thought. "Okay, you got an anonymous tip that Brother Blood is controlling the city's criminals to amass power. You're done." She looked at Raven. "You arrived to the same conclusion after intercepting me and freeing both Terra and I from any hold Blood may have had on us."

Raven tilted her head. "What would that accomplish?"

Jinx smiles. "Takes your teammates off my back, and gives you a reason to have gone into Terra's head to see what Blood might have done, then you brought Terra back to normal."

Terra gave an impressed, 'Huh!'. Star nodded. Raven frowned. "Hate to say it, but a criminal background actual helped here."

Jinx smiled wide. "But you'll have to be separate and give your stories yourselves."

Raven and Starfire nodded. The demi demon stared at the pink haired girl. "Will you be okay on your own?"

Jinx scoffed. "I'm offended. I'll be fine."

Raven turned to Starfire. "Okay. You go on home then."

Star nodded, then turned to Jinx. "Um. . . we should go to the mall again, yes?"

Jinx smirked. "Why not?"

Star squealed before rocketing into the air towards Titan's Tower. Raven sighed with relief. "One down. Three to go."

Jinx chuckled. "Who's next? I can't imagine Cyborg being too hard to convince since he had a crush on me once."

Raven glared. "Yeah. . ."

Terra noted. "Plus, saving me will put her in BB's good graces."

Raven glared at the blonde. "No. . . Beast Boy will be last." Before the other two can ask, she elaborates. "Beast Boy doesn't even know I'm dating. Much less that it's a woman. Much MORE less that it's an ex criminal. I want to hold off on any and all jokes he's going to have for as long as I can."

Jinx and Terra huddle together, keeping Raven out of the look. Jinx instructs the blonde. "Until then, we should terrorize her with our own jokes."

Terra nods with a smirk, leaving Raven eye twitching as she could only guess what Jinx was planning. "You're going to be the death of me."

Terra joked. "Don't Jinx it!"

The joke made both pale girls groan, even Jinx. Jinx shook her head. "Okay, on that note, I'm out." Jinx waves at Terra before giving Raven a hug. "You give me a call tonight."

Raven nods as Jinx turns and leaves. The demon looked over to the blonde, who smiled awkwardly. "Was my joke that bad?"

Raven just stared at her before turning to walk towards the Tower.

. . . . .

Raven walks into the common room. She looks around, seeing Cyborg making dinner. She also noticed that Cyborg was not only making meat, but making a second batch of tofu. _Beast Boy's been irritated since Terra's kidnapping. Guess Cyborg's being nice. _The thought made her smile. She looked at Beast Boy on the couch. The TV was on, but he was hardly paying attention to it. Robin wasn't in the room.

"Any news?" Raven spoke up.

Cyborg smiled. "Hey, Rae. Got any preferences."

Raven shook her head, looking at Beast Boy. The guy groaned. "No. Couldn't find much except that Adonis was being controlled by someone."

Cy spoke up. "Hey! That's more than I found. How do you think I feel being beaten by you in getting information?" He joked.

Beast Boy smirked slightly but it disappeared quickly. "Yeah. . ." He points his thumb to another door. "Star's debriefing Papa bird. She had something, but we won't know til we all meet over the info."

Raven nodded. _Star, if you crack, no more mall for you. _Raven smiled. "Well, you'll be happy to know I had a big success."

Beast Boy lit up. "You found Terra?"

Raven smiled, but held a hand up to calm him down. "Better, but you'll have to wait until the meeting. I need to meet Robin first." She walked in the direction towards Robin's room.

She walked through the halls. She could feel their emotions from the hallway. Robin seemed irritated, his usual mood for investigations, while Star seemed nervous. Calm, but nervous. As she closed in on Robin's door, it swung open as Star walked out. She jolted. "Raven, I was wondering when you would get here."

Raven whispered. "You tell him anything?"

Star whispered a bit too loudly. "I informed him of the lies." she said over dramatic.

Raven replied dryly. "Meaning?"

"I said exactly what Jennifer said." She smiled.

Raven sighed in relief. _Thank Azar. _Raven walks into the room. "Robin?"

Robin swung around from his wall. "Raven? You didn't answer your communicator earlier."

Raven didn't show any reaction at all, shrugging. "I was busy."

"What did you find?" He asked. "Star's already identified who we're dealing with."

Raven nodded. "I found Jinx and Terra." Robin gave her his full attention. "I was not able to radio help, though it wasn't necessary. Jinx was in a confrontation against some mind controlled criminals. She was actually defending Terra from them. I stepped in."

Robin leaned forward. "Jinx has shown some measure of restraint in regard to injuring others and kidnapping. Why change now?"

Raven answered. "Jinx was cooperative." This caught Robin off guard. "Star was right about Jinx not attacking you guys yesterday. The rest of the HIVE FIVE is under-" She caught herself before saying Blood, knowing that she wasn't supposed to have that detail in their lie. "Someone's control."

Robin was surprised. "So Jinx is the only one free. How did she get a hold of Terra?"

"Apparently, Red X dumped her on her." Robin listened. "X got involved in the fight, so we easily beat them back. Sort of like when Red X helped you save us. Apparently, his current employer, or partner I don't know, has tasked him with protecting certain people within the city from other criminals. I believe he's being paid by Slade."

Robin's eyes narrowed. "You had a busy afternoon then. How can you kno-"

"He called me 'birthday girl'." Raven said, making Robin's eyes widen. "The only people who even know about that are the Titans, as in us five, and Slade. Out of impulse, I attacked him to ask where Slade was, but he got away."

Robin contemplated that. "And Jinx?"

"Handed Terra over, because it wasn't her problem to deal with."

"You HAVE her?" Robin was surprised.

Raven smirked. "Even better. I got a good look into her head to make sure she hadn't already been harmed in any way. It seems that Beast Boy was right when he thought the girl was Terra all those months ago. It's really her."

"Then where is she?" Robin was relieved, but confused. Raven's soul self left her as Terra was teleported into the room, still wearing nothing but black pants and black tank top.

"Hey, Robin!" The blonde waved. Robin merely sat with his mouth hanging open. He looked at Raven wide eyed.

Raven shrugged. "I got lucky." _Well, usually it's unlucky with Jinx._

Robin swallowed. "Good. . . work. . ." He barely got out.

. . . . .

Raven slowly walked back towards the common room. She had gone to her room while Robin escorted Terra back to the others. All the way from her room, she could sense the feelings radiating from Starfire and Beast Boy. Beast Boy because of his feelings for the girl, and Starfire just because of the sheer power behind her emotions.

Raven stepped into the room, seeing the five relaxing. Beast Boy stealing several glances at Terra and seeming a little quiet. Raven shook her head with a smile. She sat on the couch as Robin stood up. He frowned. "Okay, so now we need to go over the situation."

Everyone got serious, save for Beast Boy who slumped from having his 'Terra's back' buzz killed.

"First off, Terra is back, and from what she told me, she's going to live here again." Everyone smiled, including Beast Boy who shined with tears.

This was news to Raven. "Your parents?"

Terra frowned. "I'll have to go back and meet them again. Tell them about all this, but as soon as they know who I am, I shouldn't have problems."

Robin continued. "Here's what we know. Red X was hired, or is working alongside, someone who has given him the job of protecting certain individuals within the city."

"Protecting?" Cyborg asked, confused.

Terra spoke. "He was defending me from the HIVE members yesterday until you all came. Same with Jinx."

"Jinx is the only member of the HIVE who is not under mental control by some unknown enemy." Robin announced. "Jinx handed Terra over to Raven when Raven saved them earlier. Raven had brought back Terra's memories while checking for any possible mental damage from our enemy telepath."

Beast Boy suddenly turned red with embarrassment. "Wait. . ." He looked at Terra.

The blonde chuckled nervously. "Yeah, you attacked her as a raptor while she was protecting me."

Cyborg wondered. "You said telepath? So everyone's getting put under control by Simon?"

Robin shook his head. "No. Starfire and Jinx have confirmed that it is Brother Blood."

"Say what?!" Cyborg shrieked.

Beast Boy cried out. "But Cy kicked his can and left Blood in the custody of the Titans East!"

Robin nodded. "I called the Titans East. . . there was no response. I had an associate of mine, not part of the Titans, check the area. Nothing. They've been gone for nearly two weeks."

That news killed everyone's buzz. BB sulked. "Dude. . ."

Raven was waiting for Robin to get on with more news. Robin continued. "So, Blood is taking over the minds of our local criminals for some unknown reason. The only criminals confirmed outside his control are Red X, Jinx, Adonis, Atlas, Johnny Rancid, Ding Dong Daddy, Control Freak, Fang, Steamroller, Punk Rocket, and Blanc. The latter nine of which are in jail." He waited a moment. "also, it seems that whoever has hired Red X. . . seems to be Slade."

Everyone but Raven gasped. Terra was confused. "Whoa whoa! I thought-"

Raven answered. "Yes. You killed him yourself. He came back to life a small time after." Raven then turned to Robin. "Are you sure there aren't any other criminals NOT under Blood's control?"

Robin thought. "Cinderblock, Overload, and Plasmus haven't appeared on the radar for an alarming amount of time. Blackfire is still in galactic jail. Malchior is still in your room inside a book."

The group fell silent. So much information.

Robin finally summed up. "So, if it seems right. There seems to be a brewing fight preparing between Slade and Blood, and we're caught in the middle. While it seems that Red X is all that's helping Slade, I wouldn't be surprised if the giant trio and Jinx ended up in his wing too." Raven narrowed her eyes when he lumped Jinx in with them. Robin smirked. "While more troubles are starting, today we got good news. Take the rest of the night off, team. And welcome back, Terra." Everyone cheered.

. . . . .

Jinx was back in uniform, hopping from roof to roof. She decided she should stick closer towards locations visible from Titans Tower. Just to be safe. She looked around. She felt a familiar feeling. Usually this is when Red X would swing by- A piece of paper brush against her. She saw a note, quickly stepping on it before any wind caught it.

She looked around, finding nothing. She opened the note. . .

_To Lucky, _

_Don't get cocky. I won't be saving you these next few days. If you need a safe place, remember. . ._

She twists her head. "Remember what?" She flips the paper over, seeing a map of the city. She immediately saw the giant cross mark. "Oh. . . 'X marks the spot'." She poorly imitated. She sighed. Not like she has many places to go.

She started heading towards the outer edges of the town when he phone rang. She opened up, knowing who it was. "GO for Jinx! What's up?"

"Your lie went off without a hitch. . . surprisingly." Raven muttered at the other end of the line.

Jinx chuckled. "I knew it would. If it failed, it would be your fault. What's going on?"

Raven replied, sounding pleased. "Actually, most of us are partying with Terra's return, but I wanted to ask for some information from you."

Jinx frowned. "You should just have fun for once. I mean you got wrecked up by that demon, remember. Learn to take it easy."

Raven chuckled. "If you only knew Robin. . . Actually, it isn't much so humor me?"

Jinx sighed. "Go on. I have my own questions." She hopped a few more rooftops, glancing around for followers. She was satisfied when she found none.

"First off, have you heard anything in the underground regarding Titans East, Brother Blood, or Slade?" Raven asked in interrogator mode.

Jinx stopped to think. "I haven't heard anything about any other Titans. Why would I know something you didn't about them?" She thought a little more. "We heard that Brother Blood had some new followers, but we assumed he'd stay in Steel City. I was just as surprised at you to find him here. For Slade? Last I heard, he cacked it when Terra tossed his ass in lava. That is, until that news show with 'Slade Wilson' on it. I'm convinced that was him, but nothing else."

Raven sighed on the other end. "Titans East has disappeared." Jinx froze in place. "Around the same time Blood broke from jail. The bigger problem is that Blood wasn't deformed when you saw him."

"What do you mean?" Jinx was alert now. _A whole group of Titans just up and go missing? That's not good! _

"When Blood attacked Steel City, he did so after undergoing a procedure identical with that of Cyborg." Jinx gasped, Raven hearing it. "I know. He was obsessed with finding out why Cyborg was able to resist him. After he was stopped, he was 'taken apart'. We sent different parts of him to places to be scrapped, replacing them with prosthetic limbs. Yet, when you saw him today, he was normal."

Jinx thought about it. "That's a little too freaky. Maybe he had a body double?"

Raven muttered. "Maybe. . ."

"Why Slade, though?" Jinx was curious. She found a ruin like location with a large temple structure on the outskirts of the city. The mark on the map led here.

Raven hesitated, and Jinx noticed. "I. . ."

Jinx smiled comfortingly, despite not being seen. "Hey, I'm not the evil heartless person who will backstab you like I always thought I was. As weird as it is, you can trust me."

Raven spoke. "Red X is working for Slade."

Jinx choked on air, tripping over. "Say what?!" She suddenly looked at the map, then back to the temple building she was approaching. "Uh. . . how do you know?"

Raven simply said. "He said something. . . something only Slade could have told him. That's all I want to say." Raven suddenly felt bad. "Sorry."

Jinx shrugged. "It's okay." She was slightly afraid now. She took a few steps toward the temple. "Say, Slade didn't happen to have any hideouts or anything you know of, right?"

Raven paused. "Jennifer, where are you?"

Jinx guessed Raven only said her name because someone was close. "Well, I'm on the outskirts of the city in some reserve area up for demolition. There's some ruins here with one large building-"

Raven's voice was commanding. "Don't go in there!"

Jinx frowned. "Well, no place in the city is safe for me, and Red X pointed me in this direction, so I really don't have anywhere else to stay. If it's a hideout you know about, wouldn't it be empty?"

Raven was commanding further. "The only people who know about what's in there are the Titans and Slade. We haven't stepped foot in there for nearly a year. PLEASE don't be stupid enough to go inside."

Raven sounded pissed. Jinx wandered the outlying area. She was tempted to ask what was inside, but knew that might piss Raven off further. "I'll agree not to go in if you promise to tell me what was inside."

"No." Raven's response was immediately. Even if Jinx knew Raven was part demon now, she was NOT prepared to let her know about the Trigon incident.

Jinx shrugged. "It's that bad? How?"

Raven hesitated to answer. Her voice was still cold, but held a hint of pleading. "Please just don't."

Jinx immediately stopped. "Okay." She could tell this was not something to push. "I'm sorry. I'll leave it alone."

"Thank you. . ."

Jinx turned around to leave. "It IS like 11:40 though. Hate to ask, but you guys have a safe house I can use?"

"I. . . . . ." Raven couldn't seem to continue. Jinx was about to respond before Raven suddenly appeared in front of her.

"WHOA!" Jinx jolted back. "Jesus, girl! Don't scare me!"

Raven would usually smirk, but her eyes were locked on the massive ruin behind Jinx. Raven held a hand to Jinx without looking, helping the hexer up. She finally looks at Jinx. "Ready?"

Jinx sighs. "Yes- the last time you transported me was when we took over your tower."

Raven looked at her blankly. "And?"

Jinx sweat dropped. "That felt like hell. . . I'm not sure I want to-" The black engulfed the two.

They suddenly appeared in a room much like the Titans common room, but with no windows. Jinx landed on the floor in a daze. Raven stood in place, looking confused. "You're the only one to react that way."

Jinx stood up shivering. "DAMN IT! Don't scare me with that shit!" She then suddenly looked around. "Hm. . . this is kinda nice. . ."

Raven observed the thief look over the safe room. She then headed towards the exit before Raven locked it shut with her power. "Don't leave."

Jinx raised an eyebrow. "Why? I'm a prisoner?"

Raven replied. "I'm breaking so many rules by allowing you in here. You're just sleeping here. I'll be back after I wake up around 7 AM. I'll teleport you out. If I let you leave, you'll know the location."

Jinx saw the logic, but pouted. "You really think I'd just abuse your resources in this safe house any time I wanted to?" Raven stared dully at her. Jinx broke into a laugh. "Okay, yes I would, but still."

Raven smirked. "I win. Stay put."

Jinx crossed her arms in a huff. "Fine. . ." She then smiles. "You'd think you'd let your girlfriend take more advantage of your stuff."

Raven turned red. "Uh. . . we aren- or are we- but."

Jinx closed the distance. "You already said we were dating, so how about you just say what we are."

Raven reddens further. ". . . grrfms" She barely makes audible.

Jinx holds in a chuckle. "What was that?"

Raven mutters. "We. . . are girlfriends."

Jinx laughs lightly. "Was that so hard?"

Raven smirked. "Surprisingly, yes. And if I was a guy, I'm sure you'd have many jokes with that phrase."

Jinx laughed loudly. "I would." They kissed each other, holding on tightly and enjoying the moment. Jinx broke the kiss. "So, how long you staying?" She finished with a wink.

Raven turned red, but smiled before she disappeared, leaving Jinx to hug the air confused.

Her mouth hung open before she shook herself to her senses and picked up her phone. She rang Raven in a fury. It went to voicemail. "Okay! You are taking me out tomorrow to make up for that bullshit!" She hung up and tossed the phone on the couch before sulking. "Now, I'm alone and bored. . ."


	10. Chapter 10

_1008. . . 1009. . . 1010. . . 1011_

Zane was in the middle of his workout. Since he still wasn't allowed out of the safe room, he passed his time working out. He balanced on one hand, bending low then pushing up. His body also had weights strapped to it to make it harder. A drop of sweat rolls down his face, but he manages well. _Come on! I should be able to put out 1500 before even breaking a sweat! Here I am tiring out at 1000._

He then thought about it a moment as he kept pushing up and down. _Though the stitches and internal wounds MIGHT be a factor there. _He then realized that we was still going without counting. "Fuck, I lost count."

"Do demons always talk to themselves?" A dull voice sounded. He looked over to find Raven enter the room.

He decides to go ahead and switch to his other arm, starting from 0. "Don't know. How often do you do it?"

Raven replies dryly. "I'm not a talker."

"Yet, you're surprisingly vocal with me. I assume you didn't come down here just to chit chat the morning away. It's only what? 5:30?" He kept doing his hand stand push ups.

Raven nodded. "You said before that the entire time you were talking to me in my dreams, this Azerall was doing the same with someone else on Earth. Since I have never met this demon, I do not know who would be considered candidates for his messages."

Zane nodded, looking odd when he's upside down. "Well, it's both a short and easy list, but also a long and difficult one. What you're looking for is someone who used to worship Trigon."

Raven narrowed her eyes. "Why would he contact the followers of the one who sealed him?"

Zane locked eyes with her, still doing his push ups. "News gets around. People KNOW that Trigon died at your hands. Any former follower of Trigon is likely left without any purpose in life. The hundreds, maybe thousands, of people devoted to the Church of Blood? What do you think happens when someone loses their deity? They'll look for anything to replace it."

Raven nodded. The logic made sense. "I see. Would Brother Blood count as one such candidate?"

Zane paused, looking surprised. "Oh? You actually know Brother Blood?"

"He's one of our villains, though he's never put any real interest in me. He only became obsessed with Cyborg after he resisted Blood's telepathic control." Raven explained.

Zane continued his work out. "Makes sense. Since Trigon's plan with you required no help from his followers, they were left to their own devices. Brother Blood himself never seemed like the kind of guy to pledge to a demon too quickly. Not without some benefit, at least."

It was Raven's turn to tilt her head confused. "You knew him?"

"Like I said. I was here 13 years ago looking for ya. One of the places I paid my visit to was the old Church in Gotham City. I had my own impressions from the guy."

Raven nodded. "Maybe Slade. . ." Zane looked confused. "A man who betrayed Trigon after using Trigon and us to come back to life."

Zane shook his head. "No, that wouldn't work for him. If it's someone who would betray Trigon, then they would betray Azerall too. Until we know, I would say Blood is a definite MAYBE for being the receiver. No promises though." He then looked at Raven, annoyance in his expression. "Am I allowed to leave this room yet?"

Raven pursed her lips. "I. . . Robin said he'd have a last meeting with you tonight about that. If you ARE allowed out, it's only when all of us are here to contain you should you turn violent."

Zane snickered. "Glad to know you think I'm that powerful."

Raven quirked her brow. "Aren't you?"

He chuckled. "Well, yes I am. I'm impressed at the caution you guys have, but it's just getting irritating is all."

Raven nodded. "I don't know if you're worth trusting yet, so I don't know if I should sympathize or laugh." She turned to leave.

Just as the door was about to close, Zane yelled. "Starfire's cooking sucks, by the way!"

. . . . .

Jinx's leg hooked over the top of the couch as she laid sprawled out on the cushioned seating. He arm dangled off the front with the TV on in front of her.

". . . mmm. . . no, that's . . my fudge cake. . . flip a coin. . . . he. he. Not your. . . mm lucky day. . . mmm cake." A raven screech sounded as Raven appeared on the room, causing to Jinx to spring from her slumber up and over the top of the couch painfully. "SON OF A BITCH!" Jinx shakily got up, looking at Raven with tired eyes. The empath smiled at the thief. Jinx grumbled. "The cake was a lie."

Raven stifled a chuckle before going back to stoic. "Get everything cleaned up."

Jinx angrily started cleaning. "It is not even 8 o'clock. Who the hell is awake in that damn tower at this time?"

"Asides from Robin?" Raven offered. "Well, I usually wake around 7:30. Cyborg tends to be up around 9, same with Star. Beast Boy won't be up until noon unless something bad happens. Terra hasn't been back long enough. Though, my brother was up already due to boredom."

Jinx jolted wide eyed. "Say who to the what now? Since when do you have a brother?"

Raven turned red, not having explained this to Jinx yet. "Since you stopped all his organs at once. We still have him locked up." Jinx's mouth gaped open with her eye twitching. Raven shrugged. "I told you he'd live. Though, I didn't know he was related to me until after. Cyborg confirmed it."

Jinx was still stunned. "But. . That means his relation to you is. . ."

"By demon blood." Raven stated. "And he's full demon on top of that, so really he's my half brother."

Jinx turned red. "Well. . . meeting him will be fun."

Raven pursed her lips. "Likely never happening. I still don't trust him, but after checking into things, he seems fine."

Jinx nodded weakly. "Riiiiiight. Anyway." She finished cleaning. "Oh! 8 o'clock on the dot." She turned the TV on. "You know what that means."

Raven groaned. "Not Lori. . ."

The news program rang. . .

_**GNN NEWS: Lori Prince Live.**_

Lori appeared on screen with a bandage or two. The background was crisp and new, obviously replaced after being destroyed by the Joker. "Good evening and welcome to Lori Prince Live. Thank you all for the get well wishes. I'm glad to report no one in our station suffered a terrible fate to Joker thanks to The Batman. Tonight's subject: The road to recovery! I understand a bit of this personally. The Teen Titans, or rather a certain Titan, have made a full recovery after the incident a few days ago. Joining me today is, well, someone who understands being the victim of crime. Please welcome Jack Haly, owner of Haly's Circus."

"Good to see you're standing strong, Lori." A silver haired, slightly overweight middle aged man appeared.

Lori nodded with a smile. "Ordinarily I would bring two sides to this segment. However, this is meant to encourage those who are going through tough times. Unless someone advocates such things, there isn't much reason to have two people." Lori turned to Haly. "So Jack, you're no stranger to being caught up in super hero business. How do you think the people of Jump feel with the notification of Raven's recovery."

Haly laughed. "Pretty damned relieved, I'd say. My circus got saved by Batman once, so I can speak personally that a great many people owe their lives to heroes like these and want nothing more than the heroes to be okay as well."

Lori nodded. "I know I second that sentiment, seeing as Batman saved my life just yesterday." The two laughed. "So, what WAS your experience with heroes like?"

Haly held a smile, but his eyes turned sad. "Well, I had brought my circus to Gotham. Routine stop along the country tour, of course. These thugs thought they could bully me into smuggling their drugs for them. I told them to pack their bags in their own damn cars. I wanted nothing to do with it, but that made them a bit angry it seemed. They sabotaged the ropes for my high flier acts, the Flying Graysons, best talents I've ever had in my run of the Circus. The two elder Graysons perished because of it, orphaning the third and last one at the age of nine. Thankfully, Batman managed to put a stop to those thugs before any more damage was done."

Lori shook his head. "Such a tragedy. . . It's things like that that make many argue that young teens, like the Titans, shouldn't have to shoulder such burdens. To see things so graphic so young."

Haly nodded. "I tell those people to blow it out their ass. Young Dick Grayson showed me how much strength he had. Each of these kids has shown they have the power and courage to push forward. Of course I wish the tragedy never happened, but if I could see Dick today, I would bet you my life's work he's become a fine young man and grew stronger because of it. I don't think it's any different for that Raven girl. She'll come back into the game, and she'll be stronger than ever."

Lori nodded. Before he continued, Jinx turned off the TV. "Someone's giving you a lot of compliments." She smiled at Raven, who had her own smirk.

Raven shrugs, holding her smirk. "I think someone else will be more happy than me." _Hope you enjoyed that, Robin. _

Jinx quirked her brow, but didn't press it. She moved to a different subject. "Okay! So since you blew me off last night-"

"Giving you a place to stay is not blowing you off." Raven points out.

"- you have to take me somewhere. Anywhere I want. Okay?" Jinx smirked.

Raven suddenly frowned. "Should I be afraid?"

Jinx crossed her arms to think. "Don't know. It's all on you. Take me to your favorite place in the city!"

Raven stared blankly. ". . . excuse me?"

Jinx smirks. "They say you can learn a lot from someone's favorite place. Take me to yours."

"Titan's Tower?" Raven offered weakly, getting a frown from the hexer.

"Home doesn't count. If you say the book store, I'll brain you."

Raven tried to think quickly. She shrugged as she turned her hair black, using her black energy to put herself in her civilian clothes. "Ready?"

Jinx frowns as she ties her necklace around her neck, hair turning blonde. She was in her own civilian clothes. "You can just change instantly. So unfair."

Raven dead pans. "I still have yet to ask where you got that necklace, so don't complain."

Jinx suddenly looked horrified. "Wait, does this mean we're tele-" The two were engulfed by black energy. The two appeared in an alley. "PORTING!" Jinx clung with a death grip around Raven who stood still, not entirely against the contact. Jinx snapped back to reality. "DAMN IT! Give me warnings!"

Raven smirks, still red from the clinging. "You should have been able to guess."

Jinx separates from Raven in a huff. She comes out onto the sidewalk, staring blankly at something ahead of her. ". . . you cannot tell me this is your favorite place in town. . ."

Raven passed her, walking towards it. Jinx wanted to face palm while containing a a grin.

. . . . .

The two sat at a counter. Jinx finished her food. "Not that I hate this place. In fact, it's quite good." She looked up at Raven, who sipped on tea. "But how in the fuck is IHOP your favorite place in the city?"

Raven finished her drink. "Is there a problem?"

Jinx chuckled, shaking her head. "No, it's just so. . . not Raven." Jinx looked at Raven's now empty plate.

"I enjoy the waffles." Raven says plainly, leaving money for the waitress.

Jinx stifles a grin. "I think it's hilarious that waffles are your favorite food."

Raven gets up to leave, Jinx following. "Okay, so where to now?"

Jinx wondered. "Okay, since your favorite place is the International House Of not waffles. Show me your least favorite place."

Raven stopped, staring at her. "Why would you want to know that?"

Jinx smirked. "At least I would know something more. You can't truly know someone just by knowing their likes. You have to know their dislikes too."

Raven quips. "And the ex villain is such an expert on social skills."

Jinx smiles. "Pretty much anyone is a social expert compared to you." Raven frowns slightly at that, but Jinx responded again. "But that's something I like about you. I get to teach you."

Raven smiles slightly at that. "I'm so honored."

"So? Least favorite place?" Jinx crosses her arms as she tugged Raven into an alley. "I'll even let you take us there by that horrific method of travel you call teleporting."

Raven stares blankly, considering. "You've already seen it."

Jinx frowns. "Rae, you can let me see it. Trust me."

"I don't-"

Jinx says, slightly authoritative. "Rachael. . ."

Raven was surprised with the sudden use of her civilian name. She sighs. "Fine. . ."

Jinx smiles. "Good. Now let me know when you'll-" Black energy engulfed them. They reappeared. "SCARE ME WITH THAT BULLSHIT AGAIN!" Jinx screamed in anger, clinging to Raven again. She looked up, seeing the massive ruin from the night before. ". . . Oh. . ." She let go of Raven. "So there's probably a good reason you didn't want me staying here last night."

Raven nodded, walking past Jinx towards the main building. "I was planning to check this place out later anyway, seeing as Red X wanted you to come here. I want to check quickly, and leave."

Jinx quickly caught up to Raven, walking side by side. "This place is ancient. Shouldn't it be up for demolition?"

Raven nodded. "It has been for decades. Ever since it was exposed. It'll never happen. Though I might actually jump in joy if that ever happened." Her tone at the end wasn't happy at all.

Jinx was surprised. Raven LITERALLY hated this place. Jinx wanted to know why, but didn't want to do it in a wrong way.

"Your concern is appreciated." Raven said with a sigh. Jinx tilted her head, confused. Raven elaborated. "I can sense your worry about the subject. You can ask your questions freely, though I can't guarantee I'll answer them all."

They entered the main building, quickly finding a staircase leading underground. Jinx started. "Okay. First question. The Titans know more about your demon stuff than me I'm sure. Do they know about why you hate this place?" Raven nodded without looking at Jinx. Jinx thought quickly. "Okay, you said last night that you guys hadn't been in here for nearly a year. What. . . happened?"

Raven sighed. She was about to deny answering the question, but Jinx grabbed her hand, smiling at the empath. Raven answered. "Perhaps both the best and worst day of my life."

Jinx thought about that statement. "It obviously has something to do with you being demon, right? Your. . . dad. . ."

Raven nodded. "Yes. I killed him."

Jinx stopped, hers and Raven's locked hands halting the still brunette. "You. . . actually killed him."

Raven nodded. "My father was an infamous demon named Trigon. He masqueraded himself under the identity of Scath so history could have little to any knowledge of his true self. His overall goal was to conquer Earth and, from what my brother told me, has been trying to do so for thousands of years. I was his final go for broke plan. The only way to stop him was to kill him, and I did it."

Jinx nods, eyes wide. "So when you say it was the best day of your life?" She was slightly afraid of this answer.

Raven looks down. "I had destroyed the thing that cursed me since my birth. With him gone, I've been free to live for myself. I don't regret what I did for a second and would easily do it again. Even if not all demons are evil, my father deserved to die. I'm actually glad that it was at my hands. It provided. . . closure."

Jinx remembered. Red X had lectured her on this exact thing. _When the bad guys cross the line, they take the good guys down with them. Sometimes, the good guys are forced beyond the line. Once that happens, the outcome may not be good. _It was certainly better than Raven saying she enjoyed killing, but still. This showed that Raven DID cross that line for that same reason. Jinx chuckled humorlessly. "Wow. I feel outdone."

Raven quirked her brow. "What do you mean?"

Jinx shrugged awkwardly. "I quit my team because I refused to cross that line. I wouldn't kill for any reason. Here I find that you've already been forced to cross that line. I feel like I'm the big softy, and I'm the villain here."

Raven smiled very slightly. "No, you're the same as me. I fought for my friends that day. If memory serves correct, you fully intended to kill my brother for nearly killing me." Jinx suddenly turned red. "You failed, but you didn't know that until after you took him down. You made the same decision I did under the same conditions."

Jinx thought about it, frowning. "What does that make me?"

Raven smiled slightly bigger. "A hero." Raven gave a slight squeeze, letting Jinx know they could continue.

Jinx scoffed. "Yeah, all hail the BAD luck girl, Jinx, the greatest hero." She smiled though. "I like the sound of it."

They finally reached the inner chambers. Raven looked around. "I don't sense any other presences. No one is here."

Jinx sighed. "Great. All this suspense for nothing."

Raven stared out into the shadows. "No. There's a note."

Jinx followed Raven's gaze, seeing a slip of paper fit snugly in a crack on the wall. Jinx walked over, grabbing it. "Shall I read out loud?"

Raven crosses her arms. "go ahead."

Jinx reads. "'Dear Lucky. This place is clear of any of Blood's men, so it's safe for you to stay.' See Rae!" She looked back to the note with a grin. "'Since you are so curious about what is going on, maybe you can pick up where I left off. The back of this note is a map to my next leads on Blood's operations.'" She twists the note around, finding several spots on it. She turns around and continues to read. "'Oh, if birthday girl hasn't told you yet, be sure to ask for all the details about the situation. I'll be expecting a thank you when I get back. Maybe a date if your girlfriend won't get mad.'" Jinx looked at Raven, who was twitching slightly. Jinx finished. "'Happy hunting, Lucky.'"

Raven's eyes narrowed. "I should kill him."

Jinx suddenly went wide eyed. "Yeah, you didn't tell me anything bout your birthday! I was wondering about that when he said that yesterday."

Raven sighs. "Today is October 21st. Two days from now will be my birthday."

Jinx tilted her head. "And that was reason to attack him?"

Raven explained. "The only people on this planet that know the exact date of my birth are the Titans, and Slade."

Jinx connected the dots. "His. . . business partner. . ."

Raven nodded. "Seems like it."

Jinx was curious now. "What else haven't I been informed of?"

Raven sighed. "Just that Brother Blood is enslaving the bad guys of the city for mass power. Apparently, Blood is getting ready to go to war with Slade. Slade's been operating through Red X." Raven paused to let that sink in. "We're caught in the middle of an underworld war."

Jinx couldn't help but be a little excited. "I always wanted to be a part of one of those." Raven glared at her. "What?" Jinx said defensively.

Raven sighed. "So X is out of town. . . I'm willing to bet when he comes back, Slade's going to make his move against Blood."

Jinx narrowed her eyes. "So until then, Blood's probably going to hound us. How many people are under his control?"

They each countered in their heads :

_Hive members. . . Chang. . . Mumbo, Warp, Cardiac. . .  
_

Raven speaks. "10 confirmed. Blood himself makes 11. Any number of others."

Jinx continued. "If he's going after former HIVE students, then XL Terrestrial and Angel are probably taken already too. Making 13."

Raven continues. "And Titans East is missing." She and Jinx lock eyes, worried.

Jinx shivers. "That's. . . 18. . . not counting the mass armies of robot Cyclones and Chang's men."

Raven nods, sweating suddenly. "And whoever else he might have. Mad Mod, Puppet King, Psimon, Killer Moth and his daughter. They've all been too quiet lately."

Jinx sweats. "So best case scenario, we're outnumbered nearly three to one excluding the henchmen. Worst case, outnumbered four to one excluding henchmen. I'm feeling a little. . ."

"Outclassed. Outgunned. Out everything'ed?" Raven said. "At least we know the situation. I'm going to tell Robin."

Jinx looked worried. "Okay. . ."

Raven looked at her. "You're staying in the safe house until I come. With X out of the city, you're target number one for Blood."

Jinx nods. "But the leads-"

Raven took the note. "Since this problem is serious, I doubt Robin will refuse to allow your assistance given the situation. You wanted an opportunity to get on his good side, right?"

Jinx smiled, despite the news. "Might as well."

Raven sighed. "Let's hope this doesn't get any worse. . ."

Jinx chuckled fearfully. "With me here? You just jinxed it."

. . . . .

"Swing lowwwwwww, sweet charrrrriO-ot. Comin' for to carry-"

"SHUT UP, CONTROL FREAK!" A couple dozen voices ordered. The fat villain huffed as he sat on his prison bed.

"How can I be cool in prison without a cool prison song." He pouts before a gruff voice called.

Johnny Rancid called from the cell opposite. "Look. It's not that you're not cool. It's the fact that you're straight up pathetic." This got a set of laughs from the prisoners.

Control Freak pouted and-

BOOM!

The walls give out from all directions. Cops and guards come from all directions as smoke and debris fill everyone's vision. Bullets, lasers, sonic shots, and all manner of explosions fill Freak's hearing as he cowers. He quickly crawls through a broken bit of prison wall, ending up with the other prisoners.

"Hold it!" Several guards wheel around a corner before Kyd Wykkyd teleports in, grabbing them all, then teleporting them all away. Kyd then appears back with everyone as the guards drop onto the ground from high in the sky.

A tapping sound gets all the criminal's attention. They look to a mountain of rubble, seeing the bright red haired Brit on top. "Come on, lad! It's time for an induction!"

Adonis says offhand. "Oh, this seems familiar."

Fang huffs. "Induction into what?"

Mad Mod taps his cane as a panel drops. The panel starts playing Mod's classical mind control screen. Dropping down in front of it is the Titans East.

Several of the criminals step back, not all of them getting hypnotized. Johnny Rancid scoffs. "You meaning to tell me you got all of them as your servants, Mod?"

"No. . ." A new voice came in. Brother Blood came in, standing right beside Mod, who's eyes start glowing red. The Hive members and former Titans all gain glowing red eyes. Blood announces. "It's called double layer mind control. Not even the most powerful minds can fight it."

Johnny and the rest of the villains halt, staring into Mod's machine while getting red eyes from Blood's control.

Blood claps his hands together excited. "Students! I have a class announcement. . ." Blood's features blur for a moment, showing a demonic black tint on his skin for only a few seconds. All his forces kneel to him. "WELCOME TO THE CHURCH OF AZERALL!" Blood cackles into the air as the area fills with smoke.

The smoke clears, and they are all gone. . .

**Just for my own fun to point out, let's look at how hopeless this situation is. . . keeping in mind that not all bad guys have been addressed yet too. Let's pack on the feeling of being fucked shall we?**

**Current villain count:  
1. Private Hive**

**2. Gizmo**

**3. Mammoth**

**4. See-More**

**5. Kyd Wykkyd**

**6. Billy Numerous**

**7. XL-Terrestrial**

**8. Angel**

**9. Steamroller**

**10. Kardiak**

**11. Dr. Chang**

**12. Warp**

**13. Atlas**

**14. Adonis**

**15. Ding Dong Daddy**

**16. Johnny Rancid**

**17. Fang**

**18. Control Freak**

**19. Punk Rocket**

**20. Andre la Blanc**

**21. Bumblebee**

**22. Speedy**

**23. Aqualad**

**24. Mas**

**25. Menos**

**26. Brother Blood**

**Current Hero Count:**

**1. Robin**

**2. Starfire**

**3. Cyborg**

**4. Beast Boy**

**5. Raven**

**6. Jinx**

**7. Terra**

**Enter Bender from Futurama. "Whelp! We're boned!" **


	11. Chapter 11

Review response - fullmetalalchemist26 - Heh, yea definitely sounds like they are boned! Time to call for back up from the Justice League? or does Robin get his staff up his butt about being in charge and he doesn't need their help and crap? Oh well, yay for more Raven/Jinx fluff!

**My answer is simple. I will not even acknowledge the option of including the Justice League. They didn't in the show, so I won't here. I'll acknowledge the existence, but if they didn't ask for help in the show, they won't here. Justice League over complicates most stories and includes too many characters, and having the characters(Mostly Robin) say no to the option just makes them look stupid. So NOT EVEN BRINGING IT UP in story! lol **

Date: October 22nd. One day until Raven's birthday.

"She wants. . . to help us." Robin monotoned, leaning forward on his elbows on his desk. Raven stood in front of him, paying zero attention to the thousands of paper slips for leads on the walls. Of course, the subject was a pink haired villain.

Raven tried to play it off simple. "She despises Blood. As does every former member of the HIVE. He took over her team, so why wouldn't she want to defend herself from him." Robin quirks his eyebrow, though his expression didn't change at all. He wanted her to continue. "Plus, she's handed us a list of locations and leads. We should take advantage of that."

Robin shook his head. "I don't trust her. Could be a trap."

Raven sighed. "I already checked that. I'm not an fool, Robin."

The leader sighed. "We can't guarantee that she won't betray us."

_I could, but now's not the time._ She thought. "You also thought the same of Slade during the Trigon crisis, yet you used his help."

Robin sat back, thinking about it. "That was to save your life. . . and the world. I don't think this is quite that far gone."

Raven narrows her eyes. "My point stands. Would you look at how outnumbered we are right now?"

He nods. "I've called a few friends for help. I don't know when they'll get here, but. . . I see your point. We'll work with Jinx." Raven kept herself from smiling too big before Robin added. "But she's staying within my line of sight."

Raven frowned. She wanted to keep Jinx close by, not have Robin interrogating her the whole time. "That might not be good. Her hexes can affect the body as well as any machine. Let's say your right, and she does betray us. She COULD kill you."

Robin got up. "You're right, but." He smirked. "But I won't ever give someone an order I wouldn't be willing to do myself. I can handle it. We'll divide up to check the leads this afternoon if we can contact her."

Robin left the room first, Raven following soon after, feeling some dread. _Damn him for being a good leader. . . _

. . . . .

Jinx sat Indian style on the beach. She was on the island with Tower just behind her. She was growing impatient. _Jesus. You'd think they'd just get the asses moving. _She fell back, laying in the sand. She stared at the clouds above. _This tranquil stuff isn't my bag. That's all Rae. _Jinx smacked herself in the forehead. _She's in my musings now? What the hell? _

"Friend Jinx?" Jinx looked over, still lying on the ground.

She saw Star floating a few feet away. She heard the footsteps of the other Titans, making Jinx sigh. _Here we go. . . _She rolls to her feet and stands. She scowls. "Well, hi. . ."

The entire team stood, except for the floating Star and Raven, behind their leader. Terra was back in her old Titan clothes. Robin spoke. "We're going to use your leads."

Jinx snickered. "Thought so."

Bird boy scowled at her. "There are four leads, total. We'll go in teams. Beast Boy will check one location. Raven and Cyborg will check another. Terra and Starfire will check one. You and I will do the last."

Jinx was surprised, and a little put off. "You want me all to yourself, birdy? Won't your girlfriend get mad?" She tries to play off with her usual attitude. However, she may have gone too far. Starfire frowns slightly and Raven obviously bristled. Though, at least Raven could sense Jinx's intentions. The demon silently assured Star without anyone looking. Jinx got serious. "But fine. Let's do this."

. . . . .

A green mole rips from the ground, quickly checked the surrounding trees. Said mole morphs into a crow. Beast Boy, in crow form, hops from tree to tree. Interestingly, and laughably, he's crowing the Mission Impossible theme in his crow form.

He lands just over a cave. Taking a quick look around. This location was up in the mountains. He transforms into a snake, slithering down the tree. His crowing turns to hissing, still doing the theme song.

His snake form changes to a bob cat. He makes a final meow for the ending note of the theme. He silently moves through the cave, doing rapid over dramatic movements to emphasize something from a spy movie.

A couple footsteps catch his attention as he turns to a bat, hanging from the roof of the cave. His eyes widen, recognizing the person in question.

Beast Boy goes further into the cave, finding a cleaned out lab. Nothing left but empty supplies. Seems like a mechanical lab with some spare parts.

On his way back out, a massive beast like fist nearly hit him as he flew out of the cave. Outside, Beast Boy landed, turning into a raptor with a shrieking ferocious call. The figure that comes out is a beast like hero, Wildebeest, with glowing red eyes.

_Duuuuuude! How many people are under his control?! _Beast Boy roars and charges him. The two nearly meet, but Beast Boy charges to a bull last moment, crashing Wildebeest back slightly. The massive horned fighter grips the bull by the horns, tossing him up and over. Beast Boy changes to a massive whale, falling back down towards Wildebeest, who hurriedly leaps out of the way.

BB lands, creating an uplift of dust. Wildebeest looks up, getting hooked in the jaw by BB, now a massive gorilla. BB tries to punch again, but Wildebeest catches him, picking him up to slam him. BB thinks quick, changing to an anaconda and wrapping up the foe.

The enemy powers out, pulling BB off and tossing him into the woods. Wildebeest searches out for the green man. . . The ground rumbles, making Wildebeest turn right into a massive T-rex headbutt. Wildebeest is smashed into the wall like rocks outside the cave.

Wildebeest falls over, unconscious, BB standing over him in a victory pose. "Revenge! That's for beating me in the Master of Games tournament!" BB then hurriedly pulls out his communicator. "Uh, dude master to Robin. Any reason why Wildebeest is under Blood's control?"

No response for a moment. Robin came back, sighing. "Blood seems to be going after anyone he can think of that he'd know about, but how would he know about Wildebeest?"

Cyborg's voice cut into the conversation. "Man, remember? That Master of Games guy's tournament? Gizmo was there. Gizmo knew about Wildebeest, so Blood would know about him through him, right?"

BB sweat dropped. "Oh man, that means he has Hotspot too. . ." Beast Boy gets ready to haul Wildebeest off, but a cracking sound catches his attention. He changes to a hawk, soaring over a blast. He looks to see See-More and Warp. BB quickly retreats.

. . . . .

Raven and Cyborg walk into a pub. Cyborg used his holoring to be Victor Stone. Raven was in civilian form with black hair. Cyborg spoke into his communicator. "Yo, BB? You okay?"

Beast Boy's voice came back. "Well, I found a lab or something. Seemed like it was used just for mechanical stuff, but it was cleaned out. I ran into See-More and Warp but got away."

Cy and Raven exchange a look. Raven spoke into her own communicator. "That could mean that each location could have an impending fight. Let's try to avoid it."

The two Titans in disguise sat. Cy looked around. "I don't see anyone worth talking to-"

"Three tables down." Raven whispers. Cy tries to turn, but Raven smacks his arm to keep his attention. "I'm an empath, remember? I can sense intentions and feelings." She nods to a lone man, humble looking. He has short brown hair with white streaks. Mid fifties. He more or less resembled a priest. "He's nervous and on edge. I think he's a contact for Red X."

Cyborg turned around, acting like he was checking out some girls when he used his cybernetic eye to analyze the guy. "Max Ralfio. Age 57. Resident of Gotham." He took a closer look as he was able to see through the man's outer layer of clothes. He saw a tattoo center of the chest, a stylized S with extra markings. Cy went wide eyed, turning to Raven. "He has a tattoo. The mark of Scath."

Raven nodded. "A member of the Church of Blood."

Cyborg tilted his head. "You know, you never talk about them. If they're mixed up in bad business, you could open up about them, and we can help. All you ever told us was that Brother Blood was a member."

Raven nodded. "Blood is the namesake of the church. He's the head priest." Before Cyborg asks his question, Raven answers. "The Blood WE know never held an extreme interest in my father, hence why he focused on you instead of me. However, the majority of Blood's abilities, the telepathy and red concussive attacks, are gifts for his service of my father."

Cyborg shook his head. "This demon crap's getting old." He then corrects himself. "I-I mean just-"

Raven smiled. "I know. I'm tired of it too." Raven gets up, moving towards the man.

She sits down, spooking him. The elder man looks at the teenager with a nice smile. "May I help you?"

Raven frowns. "You're here to meet Red X?"

The man pales slightly, but keeps composure. "Y-. . . you're not him, though."

Raven nods. "He's unavailable. He sent me. What do you know?"

The man straightens up. "I'm sorry, but I must know those I give secrets out to."

Raven's stare turns cold. "Church secrets, no doubt." The man freezes. Raven continues. "I know your church. Don't play games. I know that your deity is dead. Simply tell me your information and quit wasting my time."

The man sweat as he looked at her. "You speak awful dangerously. You claim you know much. Just who are you? If you answer that, I'll speak freely."

Raven pulls her hood up, then under the hood, four red eyes shine dully, for only a second. She pulls the hood off and stares at the man who's turned pure white. Raven frowns. "You should know I'm not one for patience."

The man shakes in his seat. "My. . . my lady, Raven. How did you-"

"Just tell me what you know." Raven says forcefully.

The man clams up, nodding. "For the past year, many of us have lost our way. With our head priest in jail, a great many of our members have scattered."

Raven says lowly. "I know that already. Get to Blood."

The man nods. "Blood has committed a sin against Lord Tri-" He sees the glare from Raven. "Against your father. . . He tried to tell us to pledge ourselves to a new god. One that would eviscerate the Titans, and you."

"Azerall." Raven states.

The man, Max, nodded. "Many, if not all, of us refused. We saw it this way. If you killed your father, then you inherit all his worth. We pushed to switch our worship to you."

Raven drones. "You should know that I would not appreciate such an action. Plus, you have two older siblings of mine to worship."

The man's eyes widened more. "You know of them as well? I see. Indeed, our worship has slowly moved towards you and your siblings, but Blood moved on. I believe Blood was bribed by Azerall."

"How so?"

The man elaborated. "Blood is completely healed now from his cybernetic venture. Not only that, but is more powerful. He not only has the power he inherited from your father, but has added power on top now. Azerall must have cut a deal with Blood. That's all I know."

Raven leaned forward on her elbows. "That's relatively little new information, although it helps confirm a few things. Do you have any idea as to what Blood's overall plan is?"

Max thought. "I believe the only thing he CAN do, and the only reason Azerall would want Blood's help, is to perform a certain ritual. If he can extract the life force from a large number of spiritually powerful people, he can create a pseudo body for Azerall. Thus, Azerall could simply take over the body as a method of entering this realm since, unlike your father, he is not bound by any seal and can enter here without extreme measures, such as using you as The Gem."

Raven thought. "But if all he needs is life force, why those incredibly strong with it? Could he not just use the blood pits in the Church? Surely there's plenty of sacrifices to make there."

Max nodded. "That is why we refused him. He tried to convince us to turn so he could do exactly that. Without it, he has to resort to slightly more drastic measures."

Raven nodded. "Anything more?"

The man shook his head. "Aw, now no one enjoys a snitch, old man." Raven looks up to see Johnny Rancid. On her other side stood Punk Rocket in street clothes. Rancid spat. "Little girl, get lost." He attempted to punch Raven, but Cyborg's hand caught him at the wrist. Cy pulled Rancid up and tossed him across the pub, initiating a panic.

Raven spoke dryly. "Smooth."

Punk Rocket pulled out his guitar, but Cyborg hooks him in the jaw. Rancid comes back, grabbing Cy from behind. "Damn punk!"

Raven sits still, taking a sip of tea from a table as Cyborg wrestles around the two criminals. Note, both she and Cyborg are still in disguise. She looks at the scared Max. "You can go. We got this." Max nods and sprints out the door.

She ducks slightly left, dodging the flying Punk Rocket as he slammed into a wall. Just after, she heard a loud. "BOO YAH!"

She sighs. "We're supposed to be under cover. . ."

. . . . .

Wreckage and parts littered the massive factory. Giant cogs and machinery that once operated at full power. The area lit green thanks to Starfire. "Hello?" Her voice echoed in the room, Terra walking beside her. "Is anyone here? We would like you to respond please. We are friendly."

Terra slowly spoke. "I. . . don't think anyone's been here for a long time." She looked around. "Hell, wasn't this hideout destroyed before Slade even took me in?"

Star nodded. "Yes, but there was a trick Slade pulled after his death where he poisoned Robin's mind. Robin believed he was fighting Slade again. Despite Slade not being there, Robin could still hear, see, and even feel Slade's attacks. Robin had come here and faced this shadow Slade."

Terra seemed wide eyed. "Jeez. A hallucinogen that actually makes you get physically harmed?" She shook her head. "Slade is messed up!"

Starfire frowned. "He is the loony." She looks around. "I do not see anything different from our previous encounters in this area."

Terra thought quickly. ". . . maybe I can help." She bends down to a knee, placing her hand on the ground. "Slade may have been nuts, and still is, but he knew a few things." With one grunt, Terra's powers shook the ground beneath them, causing vibrations and rhythmic sounds through all the rubble. "I sent a shock wave through. I should be able to feel through the ground where everything is."

Star smiled wide. "That is amazing friend Terra! I did not know you could do such a thing!"

Terra half smirked, half frowned. "Yeah. I never had much use of it against you guys, so the only time I did it was training with Slade." She felt something through the vibrations. "Look up there!" There was a tiny near nonexistent red dot up in the shadows of the ceiling.

Star flew up towards it. She reached the ceiling, finding a small camera. This camera was still recording. "I have found a camera!"

Terra tilted her head. "And it's ON?! How?"

Star looked it over. "It seems to be recently added." She grabbed it and pulled it out. "We could take it to Robin, yes?"

Terra shrugged. "Got nothing else to do with it." Terra's eyes suddenly widened. "BEHIND YOU!"

Star wheeled around, right hooking an enemy midair, launching them into the ground. From the rubble emerged former HIVE agent Angel. A slight buzz sounded. Star barely had time to use her star bolts to deflect several shots from the mind controlled Bumblebee. "Friend! You must listen to us- AH!" Bumblebee attacked again, putting Star on the defensive.

Angel flew back up towards Star, but a massive rock shield cuts her off. Terra hears another enemy from behind. She turns to see the blue clad XL Terrestrial, who immediately grows in size to an insane degree. Terra's eyes glow yellow. Terra smirked. "Guys, you are so outclassed."

XL Terrestrial tries a direct charge, but Terra uplifts mass amounts of rock and dirt from under the metal floor. She flies over him on a rock, meeting Angel in the air. The winged girl attempts to smack Terra off the rock. Terra tries to counter, but barely misses as Angel knocks her away. _Dang, guess I got no muscle memory anymore. My reaction was slow._ Terra hits the ground before the giant HIVE member tries to stomp down on her. Terra brings up a dome shield, blocking him out. She then brings down a large portion of the ceiling on him.

Terra brings the shield down as Angel charges again before Terra can manipulate any earth. Terra is hit back, colliding with a pile of metal parts as XL gets back up. Terra takes a deep breath. "Alright, get back in the game. . ." With a large grunt, two massive rock columns raise around XL, contorting and snaking around him. She clenches her fists as the rocks tighten around him, restraining him.

Angel once more charged in, this time from the side. Terra sees her coming and, using Slade's training, she ducked the hit expertly, bringing up a rock wall behind her as Angel smacks through it, rolling into the ground. Before she gets up, Terra collapses the ground and closes it, trapping her under the surface.

She turned to XL, who shrank to normal size to slip from the rock bindings before growing again to charge her. Terra prepared to mop the floor with him before Starfire hit the wall hard. Star held her hands up. "Friend, listen to me. I am Starfire." Star and Terra dodged several piercing bolts from Bumblebee.

Terra sighed. "Star, you'll have to attack her."

Star looked reluctant. "Can we not?"

Terra looked at XL closing in. "You were able to attack me when I was with Slade. Remember that!" She charged the giant.

Star flew up, dodging a kick from Bumblebee, but the HIVE fighter grabs her leg and tosses her away. Star gets up. She finally glows green and charges. Bumblebee launches a barrage of attacks, but Starfire charges up one large bolt and blasts it through the barrage. Bee shrinks down, flying under the blast and reverting to normal size, only to get blasted by eye beams. She lands on the ground, dodging back as Star's fist crushes the ground she had stood on.

Bee comes back, kneeing Star in the face, but the alien shrugs the hit off, throwing another punch. However, Bee shrinks again to dodge, growing after and punching Star back. Star, finally fed up with her, charges a large green bolt that grows and hits literally everything within 20 feet of her, launching Bee into the wall.

Before Bee can recover from the hit, Star charges in, grabbing Bee by the head and smacking her into the metal war, instantly knocking Bee out. Star looks at the downed Titan sadly. "I'm sorry. . ." Star quickly remembers. "The camera?"

A loud crash sounds as XL is planted into the ground by a large collapse of rock. Terra holds the camera up. "I got it."

Star cheered. "Yes. Let us get Bumblebee back and-" Suddenly, Kyd teleports in, grabbing Bumblebee, then teleporting them to XL, then teleporting away.

Terra gets a bad feeling. "Um. . ." Kyd teleports in, along with Trident, I.N.S.T.I.G.A.T.O.R., and Mumbo. Terra looks at Star. "Retreat?" Star nods before Terra screams out in power, bringing the entire location down. . .

. . . . .

Ah, awkward silence. That seems to be the best description for this team. The two acrobatic fighters lower themselves into the bright yellow half ruined hallways. Yep, the ruins of Blood's HIVE Academy. "I wonder why Blood would come back here." Jinx spoke offhand. "Though maybe he has a good reason. Only reason I wouldn't come here is cause I wanted it to burn to the ground."

Robin scans the area and begins walking down the hallway. Jinx follows.

"So how's being leader?" Jinx offered, getting nothing of a response. "Eh, I hated being leader of the HIVE FIVE. Just a bunch of idiots." She looked over, seeing no reaction from him. "Especially since I made the name when there were, you know, FIVE of us. Then they just kept askin' for people to join."

Robin finally spoke. "We should just stay focused." He nearly opened a door, but Jinx tugged his cape.

He turned to her with a scowl, but she smiled and walked past him. "I'm always focused." She checked a panel on the door, looking through a few exposed wires. After a second, the door opened right up. "Traps were set to engage automatically after the base's collapse, to keep looters out of our old files until we could get them." She then looked at him with another smile. "You're just too busy not trusting me to notice."

Robin showed no reaction, entered through the door into the next hallway. "I don't trust any criminals."

Jinx frowned. "Okay, be honest with yourself. You worked for Slade before AND doubled as Red X once. Now, look at me. Are you honestly saying that I'm just as bad as, say, Slade or Blood."

He scowls. "No, you just have the potential to be." He continues to a side door to a room. "I assume there's similar security traps here?"

Jinx crossed her arms. "Yup. And if you're going to be that way, doesn't everyone have the potential to do those things? After all, Terra did and you guys forgave her."

Robin unlocked the door, moving in. It was a computer room, which would've been useful had half the roof NOT crushed in on the computers. "Difference, she did so of her own free will. You're helping because your team got captured."

Jinx frowned. _So THAT'S it, huh? _"Would it help you to know that I quit my team over a week ago? Before they got captured?"

Robin stopped, slightly confused. "What do you mean? A leader doesn't just quit a team."

Jinx sighed. "They wanted to take things too far. They wanted to 'prove ourselves' to the criminal world and actually start killing." Robin's eyes widened. "I quit because I was the only one that disagreed." She then walked past him, bumping his shoulder for emphasis. "You going to keep insulting me as a person?"

He was naturally curious now. "Then why are you helping us? You could just sit on the sidelines."

Jinx thought. _Because of Raven. _"Because this is my city too. I hate Blood, and I don't like people dieing, which seems to be his goal." She shrugged. "Stealing is fun an' all, but I like the excitement more than anything else."

Robin quirked an eyebrow. "I'll believe that when I see it."

Jinx worked on the next door, going wide eyed. "You might see sooner than you think. . . The codes on this door have been changed." Robin ducked down to look at it with her. He almost took over before she slapped him away. "HEY! I'm the thief here. I'll handle breaking and entering." She went back to work on the security on the door.

Robin tilted his head, confused until the door opened.

Jinx got serious as she checked the room. "The HIVE main database. None of the students ever got to access it, but the codes to get to it were the same as everything else. . . maybe this is what X wanted us to look up?"

"Maybe. . ." Got onto the computer.

Jinx tried to interrupt. "Wait, you need the-"

The computer logged in with Robin smirking back at her. "Trained by Batman. Trust me. No system is as secure as the one I trained with. Not even Titan's Tower."

Jinx crossed her arms in a huff. "Well, aren't you just a little computer hacker. Whatever, just check for any recent entries. Anything that goes on in this base will be logged in some way."

Robin searched. "The last few entries took place over. . . the last couple weeks. They're mostly searches for certain individuals." He tilted his head confused, as did Jinx. Both said in unison. "Famous models and Entertainers?"

Jinx scratches her head and contorts her face in disgust. "I really don't like the image of Blood looking up hott models. . ."

Robin's eyes narrowed. "Only one." Jinx looked.

Jinx read. "Selima Kaplan. A.K.A. 'Miss Deliza.'- THIS GIRL'S A HIGH CLASS PROSTITUE!" She yelled.

Robin was a little wide eyed. "There's a description. Presumably dyed dark blue hair. Crystal blue eyes that almost seem to glow. Pale complexion. Name meaning: Selima is a reference to a cat. Kaplan means Tiger. Deliza means pleasure. This gives her a secondary moniker of . . . 'sexi'. . . 'kitten'."

Robin was a little weirded out. Jinx's mouth hung open. "I re-iterate. What the fuck is Blood doing looking this girl up?!" _Oh my god. . . I'll never get these images out of my head. _

Robin, however, studied the information. "Presumably dyed hair. Pale complexion. Eyes that almost seem to glow. These are comments by him, so he must be profiling her as someone he needs to find."

Jinx resisted the urge to throw up. "Yeah, of course he needs to find her. Old as he is, he probably needs a professional."

Robin started to download some of the information. "We'll have a copy so we can find this woman."

Jinx just stared at him. "Really? Maybe Starfire SHOULD be worried about you."

"Maybe you should worry about yourselves." The two looked to the doorway, seeing Speedy, Katarou, and Psimon.

Psimon entered the room first, which set off the door's explosive trap. He's blasted out. Robin looks at Jinx. "You reactivated the security?" Jinx looked smug.

Katarou attempted to charge, but Robin's own planted explosions launched him out. Jinx looked at Robin. "Nice. We had the same idea."

Speedy steps forward, taking aim with an arrow, but Jinx snaps her fingers, snapping the string of the bow. Speedy goes wide eyed before Robin roundhouse kicks him in the face, launching him back out into the hall. Jinx and Robin skid out into the hall and take off towards the exit.

Jinx asks playfully. "Are we done here? Or do you need anything else from this place?"

Robin smirks as he holds up a flash drive. "Already got it all."

Jinx grins as she goes into a series of cartwheels and flips alongside Robin, releasing pink hexes in any and all directions, the energy sparking through the entire ruined academy. Robin gets to the exit first, waiting for Jinx who lands on her feet is a fancy way. The entire place was crumbling. "Did I do well?"

"Just come on." Robin grumbles, though without anger. He climbs up his rope to exit the base as Jinx follows.

. . . . .

Zane was starting to find boredom entertaining. He actually successfully got some books from Raven to read. He was currently reading up on Archaic Symbols of Necroman- "WRONG!" He exclaimed. He pointed to a spot on the page, talking to no one in particular. "That symbol is associated with BLOOD MAGIC. Blood magic is entirely different!"

He'd actually begun going through each book with the express purpose of finding things that he knew were wrong, probably because he saw in person the same practices the tomes were about.

About now, you'll notice that he's reading while balancing on his head. Boredom is a powerful tool. The stack of books beside him had several notes placed through them for Raven. Things like 'WRONG!', 'Actually is goes. . .', and 'THIS GUY! He gets it!'.

There was a sudden rumble. . . He looked up, erm, down for him. "Earthquake?" He shut the book, falling back onto him back before hopping up. His shut his eyes tightly. The room may negate all his harmful powers, but passive traits stay. He could sense.

He sensed. . . anger. Pent up frustration. Malice. Another rumble shook the building. The feelings all were dulled instantly. Mind control. "Brother Blood is in the tower?"

. . . . .

The side of the tower blew open. A loud cackle could be heard. Blood appeared, chuckling. "Oh, man will remember my name. They'll call me. . . Blood the Dragon Tamer!" A black dragon ripped from the tower, eyes glowing red. Blood smiled wide and leaped onto the dragon as it began to take flight.

. . . . .

Zane's eyes snapped open. "If I can get out of here, I could mop the floor with that asshole now. . ." He felt the wall, getting an idea how hard it was. "Good thing demonic strength is passive as well. This metal isn't nearly hard enough.

He got back into a solid stance. "Alright! A mulberry is a tree, and I AM A MAN-" A force field coats the wall just before his punch hits, shocking him and bolting him across the room into the far wall. He whipped his head up. "Fuck! I hate not having powers! Useless!"

. . . . .

"He went. . . into my room." Raven said, eyes glaring out the huge hole making up one side of the room. "He freed Malchior. . . I am going to kill him."

Robin sighed. "Well, we'll get started on it as soon as we debrief."

. . . . .

The seven met in the common room, including Jinx who stood off to the side. Robin started off. "Okay, Beast Boy, what did you find?"

The green teen started out. "It was crazy! There was this lab. It was set up to make robots, but it was cleaned out. Then Wildebeest came in and fought me. I beat him of course, but couldn't bring him back here cause more bad guys showed up."

Starfire offered. "Perhaps it is a location used for making the 'Cyclones'?"

Robin nodded. "Cyborg, Raven, your turn."

Cy smirked. "Got a contact meeting with a full fledged member of Blood's church. Some inside details about how Blood's back to normal and more powerful."

Raven continued. "Blood wants to perform a ritual utilizing the life force of an army of strong individuals to bring Azerall into our world. My brother, it turns out, was speaking the truth. Blood is the one this Azerall communicated with."

Everyone nodded. Robin frowned. "Star? Terra?"

Terra held up a half destroyed camera. "Someone installed this well after that old Slade hideout was ruined. They had to have a reason for it, right?"

Star pointed a finger in the air. "Yes! It must be something with Blood."

Robin nodded. "I'll check the feed from it later. What we found is that someone, presumably Blood, has used the nearly destroyed HIVE database from the old academy to locate this person."

A picture of a model with deep blue hair and glowing blue eyes appeared. Her skin was paler than most. Jinx introduced it. "As creepy as it is, Blood searched up this girl. Selima Kaplan, or Miss Deliza."

Raven's eyes widened. "That's. . ." Everyone looked at her. "Zane, or Wolf is his birth name, said that my only other living sibling, my older sister, lived on Earth. She changes her name often, but her birth name is Deliza."

Jinx looks back and forth between Raven and Selima. "Pale skin. Unnatural hair color."

Robin sweat a bit. "Um. . ."

Jinx chuckled. "Well, Rae. Your sister is a hooker. . ."

There was silence, Raven's face getting decisively more and more red. A black spark of energy cracks the entire glass panel in front of the common room, scaring everyone. Raven's eye twitched.

Luckily, a distraction was in order. Robin's communicator ring cut in. "Robin here!"

A voice came in. "Hey, man. I found them. We're outside."

Robin smiled. "Right on time. Come on up."

Beast Boy was curious. "Who is it?"

Cyborg smiled wide. "Finally some fellow butt kickers?"

Everyone looked at the door as three heroes walked in. One was colored yellow. One was colored blue. Beast Boy burst up. "Dudes! Thunder and Lightning!"

Thunder smiled. "Green one! How are you?"

"Oh you know, living through all hell breaking loose. The usual."

Lightning smirked. "Maybe we can help? It'll be fun."

Everyone chuckled and looked at the third. Red head with a yellow and red outfit. "Hi, Kid Flash."

Silence. . . Cyborg said. "Uh. . . kid who?"

Suddenly, he was beside Robin, resting his shoulder on Robin's for balance. "Me and Rob here go way back. Talk at least once a month. Were best friends for a while, but I've been interested in meeting you all." He smiled cockily. "He doesn't talk about himself, so I'll forgive you for not hearing about me."

Raven actually thanked him for his interruption. She wouldn't gone on a tantrum if something didn't distract her.

KF flashes over to Starfire. "Starfire right?" She nodded. "So, how long have you known Dick?"

Everyone is confused, save for Robin and Raven. Star tilts her head. "Sorry, um. What is. . . the Dick?"

KF opens his mouth to reply, but pauses himself. ". . . Too Easy." He suddenly flashes over to Robin, shaking his head disapprovingly at him. "I am ashamed that you haven't told them." He sudden appears by Starfire again. "Nevermind any of that. Nice to meet you." He appears with Cyborg. "Hey, big mean n' badass! You must be Cyborg."

The taller teen smirked. "What's going on?" They high five.

He then appears next to Raven. "Hello, there. May I ask? Singles or Doubles?"

Raven replied sarcastically. "Takens. You can stay single."

He fakes shivering. "Oh, the cold shoulder." He appeared by BB. "Hmm, Oh right! You were trained by Mento! Flash worked with him a time or two. Good guy. . . A little rough around the edges but. . ."

BB laughed. "Yeah, he's like that."

KF then appeared by Terra. "Hmm. I'll assume Terra? Nice to meet you!"

"Same." She said plainly.

Finally, he appeared by Jinx. "And. . . . I'm sorry, I didn't know someone else joined the team." He seemed confused.

Robin answered. "She's not. She's a thief that's helping us out."

KF thought. "When was the last time you stole?"

Jinx shrugged. "Two weeks."

KF whistled. "Restraint! That's hard to find in super villains. You don't seem so bad." He leans cooly. "Maybe you're just misunderstood?"

Raven started bristling. Jinx smiled back. "Well, maybe you're misunderstanding." A pink spark caused Kid Flash to fall through the floor. Jinx pointed to Raven. "Just like her. I'm 'takens'."

Kid Flash appeared back with everyone like nothing happened. He looked at Robin. "She's abrasive."

Robin nods. "You have no idea." Robin announced. "Alright, we have back up. We know what we're dealing with. We know our goals. Two days from now, we strike back." Everyone nods.


	12. Chapter 12

_It doesn't make sense._

The boy wonder sat as he observed the screen in front of him. He replayed the footage of the camera Star and Terra found, but it only made his blood boil.

_Brother Blood wanted out of prison, and he wanted power. Azerall gives him that, and Blood breaks free. He begins to hunt down anyone and anything he can think of to use against us. _

The feed plays. The camera had likely been placed by Red X without anyone's knowledge. The feed was mostly days and days of zero activity.

_He rebuilds his army of Cyborg clones using the lab Beast Boy found. He's amassing large amounts of powerful individuals to sacrifice in a ritual. Okay, all of that makes perfect sense. _

The feed finally got to the spot he wanted to replay as two individuals appearing under a dim light. One was Brother Blood. The other couldn't be seen, but his voice was all too familiar.

_Where did Slade come into this? _Robin wondered. _This entire plan seems to not involve Slade in any way until you get to Red X's involvement. Blood might very well be the reason Slade Wilson's own life was messed up, but he's had years to get revenge if he wanted it. Why would they come to blows now?_

The feed played as a conversation starts. Blood begins with a smile. "Ah. . . it's so nice to see you again. Hope you aren't having problems seeing me, though. Depth perception must be hard on you these days."

Slade's voice came in. "A minor inconvenience I assure you."

"Well, you called me here. I neglected to bring my forces, and I see none of yours. May I ask your intentions?"

Slade chuckled. "Blood, you've always been an impatient man." The figure turned in the shadows. "I can tell your soldiers are hiding, waiting for me to pull something. "The figure then walked back into the shadows, showing a classic looking Slade who removed his mask, revealing a robot face with a bomb. "I knew I couldn't trust you, so I hope you understand my. . . absence."

Blood's smile turned to a frown. "Well, then my being here is pointless if the real you isn't here." He turns to leave, but Slade's words stop him.

"You're after the Titans." It wasn't a question. Blood turned back, eyes glowing red. "Before I say anything of my intentions, I want to know why you wish to ally yourself with a new demon so soon after Trigon's demise."

Blood spat. "You have no right to speak Trigon's name."

"Oh? I believe I do. He did bring me back from the dead to serve him. I guess he didn't think you were worthy enough to even use, did he?" Slade's comment hit below the belt, infuriating the former church priest.

Blood glared at him. "If you want to know my end game, fine! I'm following your example. I plan to gain an army of followers along with empowering myself with the powers of Azerall. Then, like you with lord Trigon, I will betray and cause his death. I'll take his power, and I will personally rule this world with an iron fist. I will kill you. I will kill the Titans. I will kill anyone in my way. Now, state your business with me now so I can leave."

Slade seemed to ponder the response. ". . . You really are a fool. I had very little to do with Trigon's death, yet since I contributed to it, you figure you can do it yourself with something nearly as strong?"

Blood smirked. "All it required for Trigon was five teenagers and a zombie. I think I've got my bases covered."

Slade chuckled. "We'll see about that." He faced Slade fully. "The Titans have only gotten stronger, and unlike me, you've never gotten a single victory on them."

Blood frowned. "Everyone would get lucky against them if they devoted their whole lives to their death facing them. Your point? If you've called me here just to tell me I'll lose, I'm leaving now." He turned to leave yet again.

Slade announced. "I hereby declare war on you." Blood stopped frozen.

Blood glanced back with red glowing eyes. "Pardon?"

Slade chuckled. "Now, Blood don't tell me you've grown so old you're hard of hearing. I don't feel the need to repeat myself." Slade's robot removes its mask, activating the bomb underneath and exploding.

The explosion wrecks the location further, but the camera feed keeps going to see Blood emerge just fine. "Fine, I guess I'll wipe out everyone before my conquest. What's the joy in it if it's too easy?" Blood walks away as the rest of the feed is back to a blank stream of video for days and days. The video continues to even seeing Starfire and Terra enter the room until Star takes the camera down.

Robin scowls. _So Slade involved himself? He actually thinks we're too powerful for Blood, but he's involving himself anyway. Guess we'll see why when he makes his move. _

He then leaves his room and heads through the halls. He wanders by Beast Boy's room, hearing the snoring from outside in the hall. He continued past Starfire's room, knowing she was still asleep. It was only 5 in the morning after all. Cyborg's door was open, showing him shut down and recharging while sleeping. Terra's room was being used by her again, with her snoring almost louder than Beast Boy. Thunder and Lightning had opted to sleep on the roof, oddly.

Being Robin's old friend, Robin let Kid Flash crash with him in his own room, who was still asleep. He was way too relaxed a person to be awake at this hour.

He passed by Raven's room, sighing. He moved to knock on it, but the door flew open anyway. Raven stepped out, already knowing he was there. "Robin. . ."

He tried to smile. "Good morning, Raven." She barely responded. He tilted his head. "Um. . . Happy Birthday?"

Raven sighed and just started walking. "You know I'm not very happy today."

Robin smiled. "You don't have to hate it anymore. Just celebrate."

"Old habits die hard. It's only my first one without that damn prophecy too." Raven threw in the curse work rather uncharacteristically. She wonders. _Great. . . Jinx's mannerisms are getting to me. _

Robin chuckles. "Well, we'll try to make you love today, despite our. . ." They enter the common room, seeing the pink aired on the couch. ". . . house guest."

Raven steps over towards to couch, noticing that Jinx, in her sleep, was very. . . skittish. Every noise caused a small shiver or jolt. Robin raised his eyebrow. This early was probably not the time to wake her. Raven whispered. "She's on edge being here."

Robin shrugged. "Can't be helped when you sleep in a building with nine other people who would usually fight you." He moved to the kitchen to make some coffee, though Raven kept beside Jinx.

Raven tried quickly to channel her power through her telepathy, easing Jinx's mind. The girl suddenly dug deeper into the couch with a very light snore, giving Raven a small ghost of a smile. It went away as she headed out of the room. She turned to Robin. "I'll probably be gone until about noon."

He seemed skeptical. "What for?"

Raven sighed. "I'm taking Zane out." Robin gave her his full attention. Raven explained. "That girl yesterday was my sister, and Blood is after her. I tried to use a locator spell, but it didn't work, so I'll go to him. We'll find her and find out why Blood is interested."

Robin frowned. "If your brother turns on you?"

Raven stops to consider it. "Then I'll probably die resisting him." She turns with a smirk. "Though, he's been more than patient, and his motives and information has seemed trustworthy so far. I figure this will let him stretch his legs a bit before we toss him back into that room."

Robin's frown didn't leave, but he nodded.

Raven added before leaving. "Don't antagonize her too much." She exited the room, Robin looking at the pink haired girl. He let out a sigh.

. . . . .

Raven's voice cut in. "My books are not pillows."

Zane jolted awake, an open book falling off his face. He'd been sleeping, using a small stack of books as a surrogate pillow. He looks up at Raven. "Oh, hey."

She glances at all the post it notes placed within her books. "You had comments on some of these?"

Zane gives an apologetic smile, scratching the back of his head. "Hehe. . . sorry. A lot of human's are not the masters they think there are. Though. . ." He points to a pile in the corner. "Those ones knew EVERYTHING they talked about. I highly recommend you re-read those. A lot of others are okay, people of general experience, but those." He pointed accusingly to the three books used as his pillow. "Those are awful. Don't listen. Amateurs, man."

Raven seemed to take interest in his words, noting the books he pointed out. "So, you want out of here for a few hours." She didn't bother making it a question. "I think we should go find out sister. You said her name was Deliza?"

Zane frowned. "I wouldn't complain about being out of here, but why the sudden interest in her?"

"Blood's taken an interest in tracking her down." Raven stated. "I think we should find her first. I tried a locator spell, to project locations around the globe but the results-"

Zane finished. "Lit up like a Christmas tree?" She nodded. "The spell you used was to find people similar to you, which means all your results were either distant human relatives of your mother, or just other demons on the planet."

Raven nodded. "I would hope the majority weren't demons."

Zane shrugged. "Sadly, they are. Possessions, or just plain demons living here. Anyway." He pulls out a book from the stacks, flipping through the pages. "Use this one here." He shows her. She already knew the spell, but it required two sources of DN- oh right, her brother was right here.

She never had a second source to use. The opportunity to do something different made her slightly excited, though she didn't show it. "Okay. Let's go."

He looked down at the white pants and sleeveless shirt he wore. "Can I get something. . . different?"

. . . . .

"So THIS is Metropolis?" Zane looked around with an impressed whistle. Raven was in civilian clothes, blue hoody jacket, tight black pants, her blue boots. Black hair, blue eyes.

She smirked. She liked cities, just not the people. They stood on top of a tall building, getting a good view. She looked at him, seeing he stood a head taller than her. His orange red hair nearly shined in the bright morning sun light. His orange eyes were VERY prominent. He could pass as just a good looking ginger with colored contacts, with his small amount of freckles.

His clothes now were more acceptable. He wore comfortable deep blue jeans, black shoes. He had a plain white shirt, which you could only see through the unzipped top of his jacket. His jacket was a blue and black styled jacket, looking like he could pass for a modern day Assassin's Creed character, with the top put folded out to show his white shirt, though his hood was down.

He looked around, enjoying the view. "You know, this place would look badass with more fire. . ."

Raven stared at him. "Hm. . ."

He suddenly realized what he said, sweat dropping. ". . . sorry, that was the wrath in me talking."

She rolled her eyes. "I'll hold you to that. You're an expert in tracking down demon siblings, so you lead the way."

He smirked and sat down, shutting his eyes. "I got her. There's a large collection of people. . . oh, probably a modeling event. Lovely." He finished with sarcasm. He got up as he and Raven walked together.

She looked at him. "I'm able to sense people through my empathic abilities and telepathic abilities. Are yours the same?"

He shook his head. "I CAN use empathic senses if I concentrate hard enough. An ability I gained from the original 'Zane'. No, I used my 'Wolf' tracking skills, from my original set of powers. I can sense the amount of radiating power coming from certain beings. It used to help me find tougher opponents to test my power against. . . and help me find the weaklings that hid." He added that last part with a bit of regret.

Raven thought about that, looking around. Curious, she asked. "So you could locate someone like Superman in a second?"

He thought about it. "Well. . . yes and no. His powers are genetic and physical since he's a . . . kyiotian?"

"Kryptonian." She corrected.

He nods. "Yeah, but his powers also come from sun radiation, so that's a toss up. Definitely would put out more energy than an average human, but I wouldn't be comfortable saying his radiating power fully represented his ACTUAL power." There was a boom in the distance. The two siblings looked at the plume of smoke. Zane cracked a smile. "Though, I get the feeling locating Superman wouldn't be hard."

Raven nodded. "I assume this is the place." The two looked up at a massive sign over an artsy building. The sign had a picture of the blue haired Deliza or 'Selima Kaplan', her hair up in a cute pony tail while she winked.

Both siblings sweat dropped. Zane groaned. "You're lucky. . . you don't know what you're getting into."

Raven grumbled. "That doesn't comfort me."

. . . . .

"Jinx? JIIIiiinx?" A finger poked the pink haired girl. Nothing. The orange girl kept prodding the sleeping pinkette.

Cyborg's voice cut in. "Yo, Luck Charm, you're kinda taking our game area."

"She looks a little peaceful." Terra's voice came in.

Beast Boy snickered. "Oh dude! I know!" He rushes to the kitchen portion of the room, quickly reaching into the fridge and pulling out a spray can of whipped cream. He came back, pulling Jinx's hand up to spray whipped cream on it.

Cyborg snickered. "That old trick?"

Terra looked a little apprehensive. "Um, I don't know."

Star spoke slightly worriedly. "She might react badly to your joke."

Kid Flash entered the kitchen with Robin. "So you want me to go get a cake for Raven? Since when did I find myself in the delivery business."

Robin smirked, handing him a slip of paper. "How about I bet you a dollar you can't find the right kind of cake in a minute."

KF looked at the slip. ". . . hmmmmm." He snatched it. "Challenge accepted!" He speeds out of the room, only to come right back in to appear by Beast Boy. "Oh, I love this part."

Beast Boy pulls Jinx's hand into position and shakes the can. In reflex, Jinx's arm releases a small pink spark. The can explodes in Beast Boy's face. He shakes it off. "Aw, dude!"

Cyborg snickers. "You're getting more whipped cream!"

Kid Flash smirks. "I can get it." He disappears, then comes right back with another can in hand. "Here."

"Ahem." Kid Flash turns to Robin, who's smirking and pointing at a timer that read '20' then '21' then '22'. KF's eyes widen.

"Crap!" He sprints out of the room. As he left, the two brothers came in.

Thunder quickly looked at the sleeping girl. "She does not wake?"

Lightning joined the main group with a smirk. "I can wake her."

Beast Boy, wiping off the last of the cream, snickered. "Do it."

Cyborg scratches his head. "I didn't think she was this deep a sleeper."

Robin commented. "She was tossing and jolting to everything uncomfortably earlier. Raven calmed her down with her powers. I guess Jinx's distress was bothering Raven because of her empathic abilities."

Everyone released a unison 'huh!' Lightning smirked. "A big shock then." His index finger poked Jinx in the side. . .

A loud scream hurt everyone's hearing a pink sparked around the room, breaking all sorts of panels and lights. Everyone was slammed into a wall by a hex. The pink haired girl was now on her feet in a comical crouching tiger pose. "Who's attack?! What happened?!" She looked around confused. "Where's Raven?"

Robin got up and coughed to get her attention. "In order. No one. Beast Boy encouraged Lightning to shock you awake. Raven's off with her brother until noon."

Jinx turned to see the still dazed BB, who shook himself to his senses to see Jinx giving him a glowing pink death glare, making him shiver. "Please don't kill me."

Suddenly a thought occurs. _Wait, isn't today Raven's birth-_

Kid Flash skids into the room, a massive cake appearing on the counter. "TIME!" He calls as Robin stops his timer.

"One minute, ten seconds." Robin smirked at him. "Gotta stay focused."

Kid Flash looked around the half destroyed room. "What happened here?" He looks at Robin skeptically. "The party didn't happen without me, did it?"

Jinx looked around uncomfortably. "Well, if you Titans are gonna be having your party, you can count me out." _Good, then I can call Raven and come here as Jennifer to get on their good side._

Cyborg scoffed. "What? You're passing up a free meal?"

Jinx tries to play it off as a waste of time. "With you guys? No."

Kid Flash appeared in front of her. "Come on, the more the merrier."

Jinx crossed her arms. "Name a single other one of you that would actually like me here." _As if they'll let me stay any- _

Starfire smiled. "More friends is always good!"

Terra smirked, pointing to herself. "Hey, former Slade apprentice."

Cyborg shrugged. "I got to feel the HIVE life. You can live a day here."

Beast Boy smirked. "Well, after causing the room to get trashed, you gotta help clean it up!"

Lightning and Thunder just shrugged. Thunder answered. "We'll second their sentiments."

Everyone looked at Robin. He just shrugged. "I'm outvoted if I say no, so it's no big deal."

Kid Flash gave a huge grin. "Well?"

Jinx was wide eyed. "Um. . . well. . ." She looked at Beast Boy. "Fine, but first, revenge." She snapped her finger causing Beast Boy to fall down a hole in the floor.

He screams out. "DUUUUUuuuuuu-" He falls farther and farther, making everyone look at Jinx surprised.

Jinx replied dryly. "He's falling through all the floors in the tower." That made their mouths drop, which actually made her laugh out loud. They finally heard a thud.

After half an hour of cleanup, the room was repaired, Beast Boy walking back in with a slight limp. "Ow." He locked eyes with Jinx. "You are SO asking for a prank from the master!"

Jinx snorted. "Ha! You wish."

Beast Boy then turned to Cyborg. "I landed in the garage. When did you move the T-Ship?"

Cyborg stopped. Turning with wide eyes. "Say what?"

Beast Boy shrugged. "Well, the T-Ship is, well, gone."

". . . . . SAY WHAT?!"

. . . . .

A sultry woman fitted herself in an elegant blue and white dress when her agent walked in. "Excuse me Miss Deliza, you have two guests and-"

She replies in slightly craving tone. "Tell them if they want separate, it's 500 an hour. Together, I run deals at 600. Full nights, 1500."

The door was pushed open by Zane. "No thanks. Incest isn't for me." Raven stood just behind him, completely red in the face from hearing that LOVELY first thing to hear your sister say.

Selima Kaplan turned around, her eyes in disbelief. "Well. . ." She looks at her assistant. "Leave us!" The man nodded and left the high class dressing room. "So. . . to what do I owe the honor?" She says slightly irritable. "You usually come here only for business and threats about what you'll do if I can out of hand. I assume today's no different." She saw the blank looking Raven next to him, making her smile. "Oh? Did you want to introduce me to someone? She looks cute."

Zane groaned. "You really can not look at a human being without including a bed in the process." He gestured Raven forward, who was now red again. "I actually only came on her wishes."

Raven stared at the woman, who's hair was with her bangs parting around her face. The woman looked Raven over. "Wolf." She addressed Zane. He grunted in response. "Why did you bring a demon here? You know our family doesn't get along with our own kind." She flicked her bangs behind her ears. "Besides, I'm a more dominant person with mates. Demons are too selfish for me."

Raven narrowed her eyes, but turned more red. "I'm not here for. . . pleasure. You are Deliza? Fifth born child of Trigon?"

Deliza's eyes became cold, her eyes slightly glowing blue. "Yes. What of it?" She looks at Zane. "Wolf, who is this girl?"

Zane chuckled. "Not in the room together for a minute and the sisters are arguing."

Deliza stares wide eyed at them both, then to the younger daughter of Trigon. "You are. . . Raven? The seventh?"

Raven detected a slight wave of surprise and happiness. She nods slightly. "Yes. I am-"

Raven's head was suddenly engulfed into Deliza's chest as the elder girl hugs the girl. "FINALLY! Wolf, why didn't you say this girl was family?! Oh, it's so good to actually meet you!"

Raven's voice was muffled. Her embarrassment was keeping her too paused, but she finally got out. "Aferaf. . . mefrion. . . hinho. . ." Black energy launched Deliza off her and back into her chair. Raven breathed lightly for air, her face still red. "Last I checked, demons aren't cuddly."

Diliza laughed, waving her hand as if to physically wave off the statement. "Oh, Raven. You're talking to an essential Succubus. We're all about physical contact." She wiggled her body sexily with her last sentence.

Raven quirked her eye towards Zane. He explained. "I told you she had power over those she gets close to, and her sin is lust. She can also suck your soul out for all your powers and consume you."

Raven turned red. "But she can only do that during. . ."

Deliza chuckled. "I can use any powers I gain out of it indefinitely, but my core powers are mostly for pillow talk."

Raven just stared straight, saying nothing before a black spark smashed one of the many lights in the room.

Deliza quirked her brow. "Your emotions run your powers? That's so sad. You're missing so much."

Zane coughed. "Anyway, this wasn't entirely a social visit. Raven needs to know something."

Deliza looked delighted. "Oh? She needs guidance from her elder siblings?" She brightened slightly. "I'm all for that! Demons are born fully conscious from day one, so they don't get to go through the whole teaching younger siblings thing that humans do. Maybe it's because she was born from a human?"

Raven straight stated. "Brother Blood looked you up in a search. Has he contacted you?"

Deliza's mood pulled a 180 degree turn. She turned to Raven, four red eyes showing as the room darkened. Raven suddenly felt heavy with some sort of power weighing her down. Deliza's voice came in demonic. "That pathetic wretch of a man is interested in me? I haven't heard from him. If I had, he'd be dead."

Zane chuckled. "Easy, Tigress. We just wanna know if there's any reason he'd want to contact you. It's not even the same Blood you met half a century ago."

Deliza instantly switched back to the same beautiful woman that stood there before, her tone still heavily irritated. "If he shares the name, he gets the fame. Or for me, infamy. Sometimes, humans need to know that we are not to be trifled with."

Raven was slightly curious, but that might be a story for another day. "Back on topic. Is there a reason he might have to reach you?"

Deliza sighed. "Let me see. . . You have any idea what he's been planning."

Zane looked at Raven. "Yeah, that's another thing you've yet to tell me. A little worrisome."

Raven sighed. "Robin will kill me if he finds out I openly told you this, but. . . Blood used to be twisted, modifying his body with cybernetic parts. However, not only has he gained more power than ever before, his body was healed to its original state. We've learned that this was possible through pledging his loyalty to Azerall."

Zane bristled with irritation. "If I could have gotten out of your cell, I could have killed him."

Raven glares at him. "The Titans don't kill. Trigon only died by my hands because that's the way the fight went. Although I don't regret that."

Deliza quirked her brow. "Not that I hate daddy, I can't say I miss him. Although, now I feel a little weak. Wolf here is much more powerful than me, and you did something I could never hope to do."

Raven stopped, explaining. "It. . . was a temporary power gain. The power I used to win went away immediately after. I don't know if it came from within more or somewhere else, but back on track. Blood's overall plan is to, through large methods of mind control, take over enough powerful individuals to either A) sacrifice them to bring Azerall to this world. Or B) use them as an army to kill Azerall and take his power."

Deliza tilted her head. "Nnnnnope. Don't see any reason for him to involve me. Azerall. . ." She turned to Zane. "So he DID kick your ass."

Zane narrowed his eyes at her. "I lasted two weeks straight."

Deliza taunted with a smug smile. "Whether it's by an inch or a mile as they say. Losing is losing." She then turned back to Raven. "Only thing I can think of is that he planned to try mind controlling me for this as well. If THAT'S the case, give me his address. Meat sacks should know their place."

She suddenly got a call. She picked up and mouthed 'one moment' with a wink. She left the room. Raven turned to Zane. "She's. . ."

"Forward." Zane said. "Very very forward. With a lot or meanings. I mean I'm blunt and state facts, but at least I use my sick sense of humor with it."

"Wolf?" Raven says, confused.

"My original name. I told you I took the name Zane to remember the original, but by all demons, I'm known as Wolf. Each of us has some animal associated with us as well. For you, well, obviously."

Raven thought a moment. "Could he have tried to mind control her without her knowing?"

Zane nodded. "Seems like it. The gifts Blood was given by Trigon, including his telepathic mind control, aren't supposed to work on those that share Trigon's blood. Maybe the good Brother found that out and gave up?"

Raven nodded. "Seems like it. We have no way to contain her from him if she doesn't want to, and I doubt she'd be willing to help against him, so I'll leave her be. She's not a harm to the world from what I see." 

Zane shook his head with a smile. "You're already more mature than her, even if she likes to act otherwise, but I'd like to speak with her alone for a moment when she comes back in."

Raven frowned slightly, giving a suspicious stare. 

He held his hands up defensively. "It's not about Blood, or anything about the Titans."

She gave a suspicious 'mhm.' "I would also like to speak with her alone."

. . . . .

"WHERE IS MY BABY?!" Cyborg screamed. Everyone was gathered in the hangar. He looked at Jinx, seemingly sliding over to her with his finger pointed at her. His voice was deeper and accusative. "Tell me you didn't do this. . ."

Jinx stared at him and shrugged. "I've never seen your T-Ship, and if I did take. . . how would I still be here."

Cyborg slid back, pointing his finger at his cyber eye and pointing back to her. Robin checks around, finding a small note on the ground. Behind him, Starfire asked Cyborg. "I thought the car was your baby." She said awkwardly.

Cyborg was now crying on the ground. "The T-Car is my first Baby! Just because I didn't make as big a deal for the T-Ship doesn't mean it ain't my baby too!"

Robin shook his head. "Cyborg, there's a note here. Want me to read it?"

Cyborg just continued to sop, making Jinx yell angrily. "Just read it!"

Robin started. "Dear Robocop." Beast Boy snickered as Jinx raised her eye brow. "Not to dampen your parade, but I needed your ship for a couple days. It'll be back. By the way, if you're wondering how I got in, it was the same way as the first time. I'll assume you still don't know how considering it was just as easy as last time. With regards, Number 1."

Everyone looks confused. Jinx for a different reason. "How and why did Red X break in here a first time?"

"Red X?!" Everyone yelled.

Robin nodded. "Yeah. He's pretty proud of his accomplishments."

Jinx thinks to herself. "So he broke in before to take his suit. . . and you guys STILL don't know how he got in?"

Cyborg raged. "Oh, when he gets back I'm gonna shine my foot and shove it STRAIGHT UP HIS ASS! BOO YAH!"

Beast Boy says rather negatively. "Or he'll shut you down just like last time. . . and the time before that."

Robin scowled. "He's a nuisance. We'll deal with this later." He looks at the time. "We have about half an hour to get ready for Raven. Let's leave work alone for the day."

. . . . .

Raven sat down opposite from Deliza. Zane had just finished his talk with her. It apparently went well, with his victorious smirk.

Now, Raven sat in silence, looking at Deliza, at a complete loss of words. "So. . . Deliza? Or Selima?"

Deliza smirked. "I prefer Deliza, that's why I keep the title no matter what name I use."

"Deliza. . ." Raven just felt awkward. She shifted uncomfortably. "I actually have no idea what to say. . ."

Deliza nodded with a knowing smirk. "I went through that when I met Wolf the first time. It's weird to be born, separate from any form of family ties, then suddenly meet a sibling. I just wanted to know if he was anything like me."

Raven still fiddled around uncomfortably. "Well, up until a week and a half ago, I didn't know I had siblings. I was fully set to live life without any ties other than that of my friends. They'll like a family to me." 

Deliza pouts. "Yeah, I should've expected you to say that. You're a fan of the meat bags." Raven glares at her. "Don't get me wrong, I am too. I was just always aware of my ties, unlike you. I knew there was a 'Raven' on the Titans, but I never thought it was you. So, what's your impression of me?"

Raven just gave an 'uhhhh'.

"Oh come on, be honest now." She gave a big smile. "How do you feel knowing I'm your sister?"

Raven just stared ahead. "Well. . . . . . . . You're a slut."

The made Deliza cackle almost like Jinx would, which made Raven smile slightly. "Much kinder words than Wolf used."

Raven kept going. "I can't help but feel slightly. . . envious." Her sister sobered up, looking serious. "You're able to. . . express yourself fully. You're not hampered by your abilities, and even your own nature, despite being demonic, actually helps you enjoy life."

Deliza gave a small smile. "Well, now you are much kinder and less easily angered than Wolf. Weird as it is, he's an older brother. He knows how to lecture you. Though, you're a lot more like him than me." Deliza had an alarm go off. "Damn, I have an appointment soon." Raven turned red, making her laugh. "Oh, you'll find someone to do it with one day. Then you'll know." She saw Raven's face turn redder. "Oh? You already have one? Just don't break them in bed. We ARE stronger than the meat bags."

Raven chose not to respond to that.

Deliza a last look over, noticing Raven staring at her. "If you're comparing us, don't. You look exactly like I hoped you would. And just so you know." Raven paid attention. "Even if Wolf doesn't like to mention it, both he and I had extreme problems with our powers just like you. You'll learn, and you'll be able to live as free as me." She winked. "And I mean every bit as free as me."

Raven smirked at that, but still couldn't keep herself from going red. "Thanks." The two left the room, seeing Zane, or Wolf, whichever name you like more for him, sitting in the hall outside.

Deliza crossed her arms. "So, when should I expect a visit?"

Zane said sarcastically. "Hopefully never."

"We can only hope." Deliza pats him on the shoulder with a smile and hugs Raven, who barely hugs back with one arm awkwardly. Deliza leaves a piece of paper with Raven. "Never hesitate to call." She leaves.

Raven actually partially smiles. "I notice not a single one of us is like out dad. I'm glad for that."

Zane frowns. "We have our moments. . ." He smirks again. "But we move past them."

Raven smiles. _Not a bad birthday gift. _

Deliza, down the road turns and calls back. "You should've told me it was your birthday!" She seemed to scold before continuing away.

Raven was left confused. Zane chuckled. "Did I mention that one of her abilities was mind reading?"

. . . . .

The door opened. "SURPRISE!" thousands of colored confetti pieces fell. Raven was back in her super hero outfit and wasn't surprised in the slightest.

"You know it would be surprising if you didn't tell me about it beforehand." She instructed. She saw that Jinx was still there, which confused her. "Hey, you're awake." She noted. She then noted the room looked recently rebuilt. "The walls are new, so I'm going to assume someone woke you up badly."

Jinx glared at Beast Boy. That was all the answer Raven needed. Robin asked. "So, is Zane still untrustworthy? I let him go with you so you could find out. If he isn't here. . ."

Raven explained with a smirk. "I trust him. He just went back to that room because he said he's too lazy to party."

Robin pursed his lips. "If he's trustworthy, he did HAVE to go there."

Raven shrugged. "He didn't think he was allowed anywhere else yet."

Beast Boy yelled out. "Let the party begin!"

. . . . .

Outside the tower, more problems were ready to arrive. It seems Raven's birthday is still a day to despise. "OH, yes, Titans."

An entire army of Cyclones, intermixed with dozens of super villains and controlled heroes formed up with their master.

Brother Blood chuckled with demonic read eyes. Once more, his cackle made his image flicker, slightly replaced with gray black skin. "Students! Let the party begin. . ."


	13. Chapter 13

**_Quick note. If you may think Raven and Wolf's fight in chapter's 4/5 actually represented Wolf's full power. . . . . . he was half dead and bleeding out. Just to point out how much of a difference you'll soon see. . . . ._**

**_This is a 100% combat chapter with little dialogue. Have fun! :)_**

The party had continued for quite a while. At this point, they'd divided up into their different games.

Raven sat at the table, merely observing everyone having a good time with a small smile. _It's almost like my birthday isn't that bad. _She heard the chair pull out from the table, seeing Jinx sitting down across from her.

"You seem content to not take part in your own party." Jinx teased.

Raven shrugged. "What's it matter? I'm fine here. They're all having fun." Raven then smirked at Jinx. "They all seem to enjoy you being here too. I knew Cyborg and Beast Boy wouldn't need much convincing, but Robin?"

Jinx smiled. "What can I say? I got lucky." She winks playfully, brushing her leg against Raven's. "But maybe the birthday girl should be the one getting lucky, don't you think?" The action went, for the most part unnoticed by anyone else. . . for the most part.

Raven blushes a bit, looking away towards the giant windowed side of the room. Her eyes widen. "LOOK OUT!"

The window blew through. The entire tower rocked with a massive barrage. Black energy flickered away showing everyone unharmed. They all got up as the lights went dead. Suddenly, the room lit again with the red emergency lights.

. . . . .

Blood chuckled, seeing the Tower nearly wrecked in one volley from his army. "Come, Titans. You can't make this too easy." All the Cyclones' eyes glowed, ready for the command. "Fire the missiles." Blood looked up, his eyes glowing. "Fliers move in to engage."

The sky above his army dotted with a mass of monstrous moths, one giant one at the helm. The ground troops released a dotted sky filled with missiles.

. . . . .

Robin barked orders. "Cyborg, start all Tower defenses!" He turned to Raven and Terra. "Shield the tower!" He looked to Thunder and Lightning. "Counter attack!" Then to Kid Flash.

The brothers nod and blast out from view. Raven and Terra's eyes glow as they control together. The earth at the base of the tower skyrockets up, blocking the missile barrage entirely.

On the top of the tower, the brothers appear in a single flash, concentrating their power. The sky darkened, quickly flashing with the bright destructive power of nature. Lightning bolts rain down upon Blood's army, wiping out large masses of his troops.

. . . . .

Blood chuckled as the bolts rained. "It seems the heavens are divided! The forces of lightning and earth protect you. However, the forces of fire and water favor me." He grins. Aqualad and Hotspot appear beside him. "Be good students and tear down their defenses."

Hotspot nodded, blasting the ground below him to launch himself away like a rocket. He goes until he is out from under the dark lightning. From the water below him, Trident appears with a controlled water beast. Hotspot lands before firing a massive column of flame into the sky.

. . . . .

Beast Boy looked up from the destroyed window. "Dude. . . the storm clouds are moving!"

Robin's eyes widened. "The heat from Hotspot's fire is changing the wind currents. It's pulling the storm away from us!"

Star gasps. "Look!"

. . . . .

Aqualad rises on a great wave as the ocean water flows upward into water pillars surrounding the Tower. Terra quickly controls the earth shield, reforming it. Aqualad channels each of the water pillars into a water drill, smashing them into the wall. The rest of the army begins to launch sonic blasts and all manner of weapons at it.

. . . . .

Terra strains herself to keep the wall up, stressing from the amount of effort. Raven's hand fell to Terra's shoulder. Terra looked to Raven who looked back with four red eyes.

. . . . .

The massive rock wall quickly engulfed with a black coating of energy, all the attacks being bounced off. The rock wall rises and domes over the tower completely.

Blood's army halts outside the shield. Mad Mod stepping forward with a grin. "I guess them Titans have gone possum on us, lads!" The ground beneath them hummed, confusing Mod. "Uh. . ." A metal gun turret rips up from the ground, pointing straight at him. "Oh. . ." A red laser blasts him away. Dozens of turrets rise from rocks and dirt spots around the whole island, turning Blood's army into a scattered mess, however they were quickly dispatched.

Blood chuckled. "Any other surprises? No?" A small opening appeared in the earthen wall. Blood frowned. "Twins! Search out the enemy."

Mas and Menos speed into view heading straight for the entrance. However, a yellow blur splits them in the middle before elbowing them apart. Kid Flash smirks. "Well, hi there."

Blood purses his lips. "Oh? Another speedster, I see." He looks at the two separated twins getting up. "Useless, the pair of you." He turns back to Kid Flash. "You're the welcome party?"

Kid Flash smirks. "No." He speeds away, then comes back with a hand held confetti popper. "I'm the distraction." He pops it as the opening in the wall widens, revealing Cyborg at the entrance of the tower. He had massive bus long cannons hooked onto his arms with a giant battery pack on his back.

"BOO YAH!" He fires a massive sonic beam out, blowing a gargantuan hole in the middle of Blood's forces.

Kyd Wykkyd teleports Blood out of the blast, bringing him back after the blast is done. "Well, Cyborg. It HAS been a long time, hasn't it?"

Cyborg shook off the expended cannons and battery. "Yeah! Been a long time since I got to whoop your butt!"

Blood chuckled. "I'd like to think I'm a different man now. I hold no grudges."

Cyborg smirks. "Good, then you won't hold a grudge for getting beaten again."

The black energy around the rock wall disappears as massive pink sparks flow through it. The massive wall crumbles outward, landing on the attacking forwards. The smoke and debris clear, revealing Robin, Beast Boy, Thunder, Lightning, Jinx, Cyborg, and Kid Flash. "Titans GO!"

Blood snickers as the seven fighters charge his horde. "A frontal attack? Pure mad!"

Up above, the moth swarm flies down before a rock barrage scatters them, smacking half of them out of the sky. Killer Moth appears on his lead moth, seeing Starfire, Raven, and Terra floating between them and the tower.

Bumblebee, Angel, and Kitten, who road another Moth, descended to meet them. "Awww, Star! It's been so long!" Kitten said, feigning innocence. Her tone turned demented, as did her expression. "TIME FOR PAYBACK!"

The moths charge. Terra brings the rocks up, enclosing the swarm between them all. The moths stack up as Star and Raven combine their powers into a massive blast, wiping out most of the swarm.

The Kitten's moth flies down as she whips Starfire's leg, pulling her down. Bumblebee zooms in on Raven, going for a dropkick, but the demi demon teleports away, revealing a thrown rock from Terra. Bumblebee shrinks, dodging around the rock. She grows and lands on the same rock as Terra, attempting to punch her off.

Terra flicks her wrist, molding the rock to grip Bee in place before she jumps off the rock. Terra lands on another rock, getting distance from Bee. Bee then looks around to find several rocks closing in on her. She tries to move, but Terra's rock hold keeps her anchored until she's sandwiched between the rocks.

Several moths attack Starfire, biting and gnawing at her. Some bites even start to get some blood, but then she erupts in green energy, blasting them all back. She roars up to Kitten, uppercutting the girl off her moth. Star turns to dodge a wing swipe from Angel.

The rest of the swarm, including Killer Moth, push forward as Raven appears. Raven breaths calmly before her eyes once more flash red. The wings of all the moths, including Moth's main steed, are encased in blast energy, causing them all to immediately fall to the ground below like bricks.

Down below, Robin flips over Atlas, kicking Punk Rocket. Atlas turns to face Robin, but Beast Boy rams him away as a triceratops. Dozens of Billy Numerous' appear around him and charge. Robin pulls out his staff, pole vaulting over one and kicking another. He lands and sweeps the first one's leg out. He swiftly smacks two others away before the staff extends like the Power Pole. He twirls it, smacking away every single Billy.

Trident suddenly comes down, smashing through Robin's staff with his weapon. He swipes at Robin again, but Robin ducks and leaps back. Katarou lands with Trident as Robin duel wields the two halves of the staff as clubs.

Beast Boy dodges a Cyclone, changing into a crocodile and chomping the robot before tossing it full force into Atlas. Wildebeest lands in front of him, flanked by See-More and Warp. Beast Boy sprints straight at them, changing into his ultimate beast form and launching himself forward like a cannonball. He smacks Warp back, then ducks a shot from the cyclops. Wildebeest charges, but Beast Boy catches him and lobs him into See-More. Wildebeest gets up, only to get swiftly mobbed by a barrage of powerful punches from Beast Boy, flooring the manbeast hero.

BB releases a roar of victory before a giant spiral panel appears in front of him. BB turns back to normal, instantly hypnotized. "Duhhhhhhhhhhh."

Mad Mod chuckles as he aims his cane at BB, but the panel sparks pink and blows up. Jinx missile kicks Mod away. A mob of Cyclones move in, firing off a massive sonic cannon barrage. Jinx tackle's Beast Boy to the ground out of the way. She then sends a massive hex into the group, making them all explode. She then feels something sticky on her foot. She looks down to see the still hypnotized Beast Boy drooling on his foot. "You're kidding me!" She hexes him, the shock waking him up.

Beast Boy gets up groggily, only to get run over by Ding Dong Daddy in his car. Daddy drives through the battlefield. A yellow blur blitz's by him, throwing dust in his face. "HEY! No one dusts Daddy!"

Kid Flash speeds through the battlefield, speed punching Andre Le Blanc. He then dodges a speeding motorcycle, Johnny Rancid. Rancid pulls his blasting guns out, opening fire, but Kid Flash easily dodges everything.

Mas and Menos speed in behind him. KF barely notices, vibrating his molecules to let the twins pass right through him. The skid to a halt, confused, before he hits them away. He then speeds backwards, dodging Ding Dong Daddy.

Daddy keeps driving, but then Cyborg's sonic cannon takes out his car. Cyborg fires a volley of rockets from his shoulders, taking out half a dozen more Cyclones. Kyd Wykkyd teleports in, swiping at Cy. The metal teen blocks the hit, trying to counter, but Kyd teleports away. He then teleports back in with Mammoth, who punches Cy back. Cyborg wipes his chin before pointing both his sonic cannons at Mammoth, blasting him away.

Over with Blood, he smirks. "Ah, they fight with such youth." He then calls out to them. "You'll tire out eventually, you know?" Blood creates a flash of red energy to block a pink hex. He smirks as Jinx flips over him, landing behind him. Jinx tries to sweep his legs out, but a red flash blasts her attack off. She rolls to her feet, hexing the ground below Blood. Blood keeps his smirk as his image disappears.

Jinx stares confused. _He didn't have that power bef- oh, right, powers bestowed by Azerillo or whoever. _She cartwheels to the left, dodging an ax kick from Blood. The elder man unleashes a barrage of hits at Jinx as she parries and dodges the hits. She catches a punch, attempting to hex Blood's nervous system, but Blood's energy repels the hex. The clash blasts the two apart, skidding to a halt.

Over at the tower, Robin is launched back into the main door painfully. He grunts in pain. "Titans, into the tower!"

The ten teens form up at the door and move into the tower, Terra and Raven using rocks and shields to block massive barrages of beams and shots. The doors slam shut as the tower locks down. Blood smirks as Hotspot lands beside him. "Start melting the door."

. . . . .

The ten teens regroup, breathing heavily. Beast Boy cries out. "DUDE! How are we going to win?"

Cy groans. "Outnumbered three to one. This is insane!"

Star tries to be hopeful. "We have beaten worse odds, yes?"

Robin calms his breathing, in a slight limp. "Start laying traps throughout the tower."

Raven looks past him. "I don't think we have time for that."

They all turn around as Kyd Wykkyd teleports in with Speedy. Warp portals in with Mumbo Jumbo, Private Hive, Kardiak, and Aqualad. Psimon teleports in with Gizmo and Adonis.

They look back to the door, seeing the white hot metal appear. Hotspot must be melting through. Robin scowls. "Make your way to the upper levels!"

The titans separate as the villains charge after them.

. . . . .

Beast Boy, Thunder, and Lightning rush through the halls, but the hall explodes, revealing Adonis, Warp, and Private Hive. Beast Boy turns into an elephant, barely fitting in the hall as he charges. Adonis halts him and tosses him through a wall into a weight room. Adonis rushes in after him.

Thunder and Lightning unload a barrage of attacks, but Private Hive is able to block them with his shield, Warp taking pot shots from behind him. The tactic proves useful as Thunder is blasted by Warp, and Lightning's attacks continue to do nothing.

. . . . .

Terra and Starfire rush up the stairs, but suddenly, the stairs flatten into a slide, causing the two to fall down the stairs to the bottom floor again in a daze. The stand on their feet, seeing a giant stuffed doll appears. Star smiles. "Awwww."

The chest of the bear opens up, revealing TNT. The explosion knocks the girls on their asses. As they shakily get up. A black hat lands in front of them, a blue big nosed man rising from it and placing the hat on his head. Mumbo smiles at them. "Well, ladies. Are you ready for my next trick?" He reaches into his hat, pulling out Kardiak as it attacks the two

. . . . .

Robin and Cyborg were in a similar situation as Beast Boy's group. Cyborg catches Gizmo's cybernetic spider legs as they try to rip into him. Cyborg tries to use his shoulder missiles, but realizes he's out, having already used them outside. Gizmo smiles as a small gun appears on his back, shooting Cyborg back.

Robin dodges around a corner from Speedy's arrows. Robin breaths heavily, still in a limp and injured from the fighting. He wheels around the corner, throwing down a smoke pellet to blind the archer. The smoke clears, Robin kicking Speedy in the jaw to knock him flat on his back, but he quickly flips back up. He fires two arrows, making Robin dodge. Robin's reaction lags from exhaustion before Speedy smacks him back with his bow.

. . . . .

Raven, Jinx, and Kid Flash are the last team, making it to the common room. Suddenly, Kyd Wykkyd, Psimon, and Aqualad appear.

Aqualad brings out the piping to blast a wave of water. Kid Flash spins his arms, creating a massive wind blast to cancel Aqualad's attack.

Kyd teleports behind Raven, moving to attack, but Raven catches him in black energy, whipping him into a wall.

Jinx prepares to attack, but her mind is suddenly attacked. She collapses to her knees, clutching her head. Psimon's voice enters her mind. _Submit. . . Submit and accept defeat._

Jinx screams in pain, remembering the feeling of having Blood controlling her mind before. She charged her hands in pink energy and aimed at Psimon. _NO! NO ONE IS TAKING CONTROL OF ME! NOT AGAIN! _She releases the massive pink hex, completely crashing Psimon through most of the walls on the floor and taking him out completely. She holds her head in exhaustion, both physical and mental, falling to a knee.

Aqualad tries to attack Jinx, but KF shoulder tackles him full speed into a wall. KF unleashes a barrages of punches. Aqualad tries to block, but the hits are to fast. KF finally stops the punches, Aqualad falling to the floor unconscious. Kid tries to run to Jinx, but he slows down to regular speed and kneels over, breathing. "Oh no. I'm gassed. . ."

A red flash propels KF into the wall next to Aqualad, falling unconscious. Jinx gets up by reflex, sending a hex meant to kill, but it merely clashes with red energy. The clash reveals Blood who appears in front of Jinx. His hands glow red before he blast punches Jinx in the gut. She coughs up blood, falling over, but Blood catches her by the throat. "So. . ." He begins with a smile. "What was that about never being under control again?" His eyes glow red as he assaults her tired mind. She would cry out in pain, but the hit to her gut knocked her air out. She lets out of silent cry.

"NO!" Black energy smacks Blood clear through the whole floor. Raven lands with Jinx, four red eyes out. This time, however, she was not very much in control. She growled as Blood walked back into the room, wiping blood from his mouth with a smirk.

"My dear Raven, don't get all bent out of shape." Mumbo poofs into the room along with the knocked out Terra and Starfire. Kardiak rips through the floor behind him.

Raven turns to see Warp teleport in with Private Hive and Adonis, who are carrying BB, Lightning, and Thunder. She then sees Speedy and Gizmo enter with Robin and Cyborg.

Blood smiles. "Students. . . go to town!"

"MUMBO JUMBO!" Mumbo uses Jinx's half conscious body as a puppet, wrapping Raven to hold her still. This proves to only piss her off. . .

A black tendril of energy grips Mumbo by the neck as Raven attacks her mind. She would kill him, but She and Jinx are blasted at by Speedy and Gizmo. She guards using a black shield. She teleports behind them, black energy claws ripping away Gizmo's backpack and Speedy's arrow quiver. Two talon black claws smash the two through the floor.

She suddenly lets out a scream of pain, being shocked by Warp's blast. The attack stuns her as Adonis and Private Hive unload punches on the demi demon. She recovers, gripping them both with her power. She rips apart Adonis' suit before she punches out both of them. Warp tries to blast her again, but she blocks it with a shield before attacking him, gripping his throat and choking him out immediately.

Finally, Kardiak tries to attack, but Raven's power grips the metal heart creature, ripping it to pieces immediately. Distracted, she's suddenly blasted from behind, getting launched outside the tower entirely and landing on the ground below in a thud.

She staggers as she gets up, feeling her control slipping, as well as her consciousness. That attack also affected her mind as well. Blood lands, feet first with a smirk. "My dear, while I'm sure you could put up an extreme fight against me one on one, allow me to show you why you've lost today."

She sees a bunch of giant moths carrying her friends, along with all the unconscious villains. She growls at Blood. "Release them, or I WILL kill you."

Blood chuckled. "That threat may have worked before, but not now. You see, I've been given more than just a little upgrade to my powers. Azerall has given me something much better." Suddenly, his image seems to flicker. . . "I've been blessed with the opportunity. . . to share the blood of demons." His image flickers and disappears, replaced with a different Blood. His eyes glowed red, his white hair a metalic silver. His skin now a dark black. "I have been given the ability to proxy lord Azerall's power."

Raven suddenly feels red concussive forces of energy sandwiching her. She screams in pain, but manages to rip out. She limps forward. "I. . . can still beat. . . you."

Blood chuckles. "Maybe. Then again." Blood's army slowly marches in all around Raven. "I have backup. Now." He nods to several Cyclones, who each hold one of her friends. Another set of Cyclones aim sonic cannons point blank. "Do not retaliate any more, or you will watch them die."

Raven immediately freezes in place. She tries to move, but the Cyclones charge their cannons. She stops. "Please. . ."

Blood smirks. "Stand down."

Raven continues to glare with her crimson eyes, but finally her eyes turn back to normal. She looks down to the ground in defeat. "Fine."

Blood smirks. "Don't resist in the slightest, or they will die." He snaps his fingers. "Children!"

Raven looks up right into a blast from See-More. She rolls to her feet, but Atlas' foot lands on his back, slamming her back into the ground. Before even getting up, Kitten uses her whip to pull Raven up by the neck. Mammoth steps up and unloads machine gun punches on her. Kitten continues to hand her up as Dr. Light comes forward and blasts her full power. She's launched away, hitting the ground hard.

She barely stays conscious, noticing someone standing over top of her. Hotspot powers up, creating a fire tornado right on top of Raven. The smoke clears, showing Raven full knocked out cold.

Blood chuckles as the rest of his men regain consciousness. "Well done, students! Well DONE! We have come closer than ever towards our conquest!"

The army cheers, Blood grinning like a mad man. However, he senses another presence. He and his forces turn toward the tower. . . .

"You know. . . It's FANTASTIC to finally be back at 100% power." A red headed demon in his blue/black hooded jacket states.

Blood immediately pales slightly, his black skin turning a little closer to gray. "W. . . w-ww-ww-w-w. . . wo- wol."

Zane steps forward, his orange eyes simply giving a death stare directly to Blood. "Now, would someone like to explain. . . why my sister looks like she was just used as a punching bag?"

Blood steps back, his troops looking confused. Blood barely speaks. "L. . .lord Wolf I-"

"No." Zane interrupts. "You've lost any and all rights to address me as lord." He slowly walks straight to Blood, who starts to shiver. "In fact, you've turned yourself into a full blown traitor."

Blood tried to ignore the accusation, smiling. "I. . . didn't know you were on Earth. It is so good to see you."

Zane's eyes suddenly flashed to four crimson eyes. "Brother Blood. . . I, Zane 'Wolf' Ulric, first heir to Trigon," He finally reaches Blood, his hand shooting out. Red energy grips Blood's body entirely and holds him in place. "Hereby denounce your position and bloodline from the Church of Blood, and take back any and all gifts beset to you by my father." Crimson energy begins to flow out from Blood. He screams out in pain as he loses all powers and abilities granted by Trigon.

Blood's control over those around them begins to wane. Fortunately for him, his gifts from Azerall include telepathy as well. He quickly orders Titans East, Hotspot, and Psimon retreat.

Zane's power attacks Blood, not only at the physical level, but the mental and spiritual levels too, ripping and tearing at Blood's own soul. Blood looks up, however, instead of Titans Tower, he finds himself in a blank blood red landscape, confronted by a black and red monstrous demon with four red eyes staring him down. Zane's voice comes in, demonic now. "And I hereby denounce your right to live."

That clenched it. Blood uses the last of his telepathic power to order all his remaining minions and Cyclones to attack Zane.

The Cyclones all blast at Zane, the blasts repelling off a red shield. Zane couldn't help but chuckle. "Useless."

Kyd Wykkyd teleports in and gets Blood away. Blood's vision comes back to Earth as he quickly has Kyd teleport him away.

Zane growls, lifting all the Cyclones up at once and smashing them. Atlas tries to punch Zane, but he literally back hands the giant off the island all the way to the mainland was crash landing in the distance.

Mumbo waves his wand. "Mumbo-" A red spark of energy bashes into the side of his head, planting him in the ground, out cold.

Dr. Light fires a beam, Zane simply holding his hand up, absorbing it then sending it back, instant knocking Light out.

Gizmo pulls out a grenade device, tossing it. Red energy engulfs it, smacking it back into Gizmo before it blows up in his face.

Mammoth tries to charge and punch, his fist getting caught. Zane flicks Mammoth over his shoulder, tossing the giant teen into Titans Tower.

See-More tries to blast, but without even looking, Zane uses his energy to twist his head to shoot Andre Le Blanc. He then clutches See-More's throat to choke him out.

Several Billys appear around Zane, charging. Suddenly, Zane fires out several wolves made of red energy, each with four red eyes. Each tackles a Billy before they all blow up. Billy's copies disappear, and he falls over out cold.

Private Hive and Adonis are pulled in rapidly before Zane clotheslines both.

Katarou and Trident attack from opposite sides. Zane catches both their weapons, prying them from their hands before smacking them away with their own weapons.

Warp tries to prepare as attack, but he's teleported away by red energy. A moment later, Warp hits the ground from a free fall, out cold.

Wildebeest charges, hitting an invisible barrier. Zane holds one hand out, flicking Wildebeest's head, launching the hero around.

Mad Mod points his cane at Zane, but a mental attack renders Mod foaming at the mouth and falling over.

All of Killer Moth's moths close in on him, but are blown away. Zane then creates two clones of images of himself with his energy. He and both images disappear, appearing in front of Kitten, Killer Moth, and Fang. Fang is blasted with a concussive blast. Moth gets a powered punch in the gut. Kitten is bitch smacked to an instant knock out. All three fall and the two images of Zane disappear.

Steamroller and XL Terrestrial charge, Angel descending from above. Ding Dong Daddy drives in from behind. Zane lets his energy form a shield, then explode outwards, taking all four out.

Johnny Rancid drives to drive away, but Zane teleports in his path, grabbing him off his bike and slamming him into the ground.

Punk Rocket makes a single move to play his guitar, but Zane knees through the guitar, nailing him in the gut.

Control Freak cowers, shaking too much to move. Zane appears in front of him. "Boo." Freak releases a fearful shriek and passes out.

On both sides of Zane, I.N.S.T.I.G.A.T.O.R. And Malchior land, attempting to attack him. He picks up the robot with a red glow, using him as a hammer to repeatedly beat Malchior into the dirt until both are out cold.

Zane's suddenly covered in some red substance that hardens. Chang and his men close in, blasting the mass with red lasers. Chang smiles victoriously. "That was cute." Chang and his men turn to see Zane right behind them. Zane teleports between each group, one hitting each man, including Chang.

Zane looks over the battlefield. He's now the only man left standing. He raises his hand as every single villain is levitated into the air, energy gripping them at the throat. He looks up at them all. His arm tense, his fingers twitch. All he has to do is close his hand, and he'd crush their wind pipes. It took everything in him to resist the urge. He knew he had to suppress his inner wrath. His four crimson eyes turn back to his orange eyes. He drops his hand, all the villains landing in one massive heap.

He takes one deep breath. He creates an image of himself that walks to the eleven downed titans,including Wildebeest, and sits in front of them. The real Zane grips the heap of bad guys and lifts them into the sky. He flies up with them. "Time to go dump the trash."

He could help but enjoy the incredibly one sided fight. However, there was one thing that bothered him. He looked down at Raven. _Will she be strong enough? _He looks the the villains. With a deep sigh, he leaves to take them to prison.


	14. Chapter 14

**_Review Responses_**

**_Chaosrin- The news thing only happens once per day in story so since this and the last two chapters are all in the same day, only one can have it, (This one lol so enjoy.) Incidentally, the thing that holds up alot of writing for me is deciding who to put in those segments since all of them are actual characters from the comics and/or animated series that you can look up if you want. If anyone has any suggestions for others, they can feel free to bring em up. I'm saving a few, but find myself needing a few. _**

**_Not an Eldritch Horror- Most times, i would think the same when reading other stories, but there's a character reason for Raven's giving up and not crossing that line. Plus, even if she did go full demon on them, she would have still been owned and beaten, then need saved by Zane anyway, and I couldn't just ignore his presence anyway. we also know that the main bad guy whooped Zane's ass, so making Zane powerful sort of lets you know what they have to face later. It's like Trunks from DBZ. Comes in from nowhere. Completely makes mecha frieza look like a bitch which was also much like an anti climax. Then we find not one, but two people even stronger than him for the good guys to face. At least that was my mind set, though I do appreciate the feedback :P  
_**

**_Angel981- lol. . . short and simple_**

_ow. . . . . . my head. _The pink haired girl slowly shook around, opening her eyes. She saw clouds, so she was outside. _Right. We were fighting Blood. . . We got our asses kicked. . . Last thing I remember was being face to face with Blood while he tried to attack me. Then. . ._

"_NO!" Black energy blasts Blood. Jinx's vision blackened as she fell, seeing a blue cloak over her protectively. _

Jinx brought her hand up to scratch her head. _So Raven blasted him off- WAIT! _Jinx jolted upright. Looking around. "What happened!" She blinked twice before noticing that she was on the roof of the tower. ". . . Why am I up here?"

"Yo." Jinx jumped to her feet from the surprise voice. She didn't recognize it, so she turned to see the elder teen looking red head. "You were the last one to wake up. Blood attacked you mentally on top of any physical injuries, so that's probably why."

Jinx barely registered the explanation. "Sorry, but. . . who the hell are you?"

Her rudeness gave him a smirk. "So polite." He muttered sarcastically. The tone was something she was used to hearing from Raven. "I'm Wolf, though you can call me Zane. I'm Raven's brother."

She immediately straightened up and smiled a little nervously. "Oh. . . sorry. I'm Jinx. What happened?"

"You guys went into a fight over three against one. A cunning strategy. . ." He used the familiar sarcasm again. Jinx crossed her arms with a glare, which made him chuckle. "You guys did great though. I bailed you out."

Jinx looked skeptically. "YOU took out Blood's forces?" She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I'll believe that when I see it. Where's everyone?"

He pointed downward. "Fixing the tower. The electric duo are welding things back in place. Terra is fixing. . ." He started counting on his fingers while looking up in thought. "Foundation, subterranean levels, placing half the island's dirt and rock back into place, so those four things. Cyborg is working on all the tower systems and computers. Beast Boy and Starfire are fixing walls and windows. Kid Flash went out for food." He tilted his head in thought. "Five minutes ago? So I'm sure that's already done."

Jinx nodded. "Raven and bird boy?"

"Raven is helping a little with each job. Robin is checking up on the giant jumble of criminals now in jail thanks to me." He ended that with a smile.

Jinx was still skeptical of the weird guy in front of her. "Say that like more of an asshole, why don't you?" She walked past him. "Why was I on the roof anyway?"

He shrugged. "Every other room was broken, so anyone who didn't instantly wake up I placed up here away from the noise."

"And you're still up here because. . . It's a little creepy if you were watching over me."

His eyes showed no laughter or humor. "Ha. . . ha. No, since you were knocked the fuck out by a mental attack, either Raven or I had to go in and make sure everything was okay."

Jinx instantly turned to fury as she pointed a hex at him, but he just stared at her. "If I had messed with you at all, believe me, you'd know." He turned around and walked away, not the least bit frightened by the blast pointed at his back. "By the way, steer clear of Raven for a little bit. She's. . . well, she might ACTUALLY bite your head off if she gets too annoyed."

Jinx lowered her hand and her hex, frowning. _What's wrong with Raven? _

. . . . .

The first person Jinx found was Cyborg in the common room. She walked in, taking a look at a clock. About 7. The fight had started about half past noon, so she was old cold for about six hours. She looked at the metal teen. "Stone Cold, what's going on?"

Cyborg jolted up, his frown turning to a small smirk. "Well, took you long enough to get up. Heard Blood torched your brain."

Jinx pursed her lips. "Like I'm that easy to wipe out. Need help?"

Cyborg suddenly stood, whole body spread out to block her vision. He held an authoritative scowl. "Re-installing security programs. Off limits."

Jinx smirked. "Damn. Fine, is there someone I CAN help?"

He pointed to one of the halls with a satisfied smile as she went on her way.

. . . . .

Next, she found Starfire. The orange girl pressed a giant replacement panel on the the metal wall before user her star bolts to weld it in place. She smiled at her work. "Too bad my powers can't do that."

"EEP!" Star jolted, seeing Jinx at the doorway of the room. She instantly lit up. "Friend Jinx! You are well in the head again?"

Jinx snickered. "Was I ever?" She looked around. "Looking good. Anything I can do?"

Star smiles innocently. "You wish to find Raven."

Jinx's expression doesn't change, but her face reddens. "I was told she's irritable."

Star did a classic sweat drop. "It is usually best to avoid her, but perhaps you could lift her spirits?" She points down the hall, Jinx giving her a smile and a nod before walking.

. . . . .

The room was loud with banging. Jinx just HAD to see what was making so much noise. She poked her head in the room, finding nothing. She looks up at the ceiling, seeing Beast Boy. Not only was he stuck to the ceiling as an octopus, he had some type of tool in each tentacle, screwing, hammering, and holding panels down and fixing wires.

Jinx just blinked a few times and moved on.

. . . . .

Jinx had been searching for a while, finding nothing. She stood in the hall by a door. "Jeez. How hard can it be to find someone in their own home?"

The door opened, an inquisitive voice asking. "Who exactly are you looking for?"

She jumped back, seeing the boy wonder. "Whoa! Dang, bird boy. You need a bell on you." Robin tilted his head. "Who are you looking for?"

Jinx stops. "Uhhhhhhhhhh-" He crosses his arms. Jinx smiles awkwardly. "I was looking for. . ."

"If they live here, there's only six choices. Obviously, I'm not the one. Who is it?"

Jinx was starting to panic. "Cy-" Robin cut her off.

"You would've passed him on the way here."

"Bea-"

"I hardly believe you would be looking for him, and you would've found him already."

"Starfire." Jinx said with a smile. _She'll definitely help me! _

Robin raises an eyebrow. "Really? I just asked her if she saw you. She already did."

Jinx turned white. _CLEVER DICK! _"Um, Terra?"

As if to answer, there was a very soft rumble. Robin looked at her. "I refer you to my answer for Beast Boy. Not hard to find her."

_TRAITOR! _That was quickly becoming Jinx's nickname for Terra. "I. . . I. . . I-"

Robin smirked. "Now, why are you looking for Raven?"

Jinx turned into a terrible actor. "Whaaaaat? Nooooo. Why would I ever be searching for Rae-" Robin quirked his brow again. "Ven? I mean, we aren't even on close terms."

Robin smirked. "Then care to explain your friendly behavior with her earlier?"

Jinx just stared wide eyed. ". . . . I have no idea what you're-"

"Right before the first attack hit." Robin said. The statement helped her remember as she turned red. Obviously not getting a response, he shrugged. "She's down the hall, third door on the left." Robin walked off, leaving a slack jawed Jinx. He finally said one last thing before turning a corner. "I'm a detective you know. I've known for a while."

Jinx just watched him walk away, half panicked, half confused. She suddenly shook herself to her senses. She blitzed down to hall, finding, indeed, the third on the left. She opened the door, finding a generator room. Indeed, Raven stood over the generator, going through some parts. Jinx approached with a look of surprise. "I didn't know you were a mechanic."

Raven doesn't even turn or react. "Out of the original five, I'm the third most knowledgeable about it." She places a panel on the massive generator and hits a button. "I'm nowhere near Robin's level, but I'm the one that's always helping Cyborg." She still doesn't look at Jinx.

The pink haired girl smiles slightly. "No offense to them, but I don't think Starfire and Beast Boy are impressive enough competition for that to be a bragging right."

"Actually, Star could surprise you." Raven's voice sounded tired. "You're not helping anyone else?"

Jinx shrugs. "I offered to help Star, but she pointed me in your direction."

Raven sighs. "Figures."

Jinx frowned. "You don't sound like you want my company." Raven gives a last look at the machinery, then turns towards the door. Jinx steps in her way, a worried look. "What's wrong?"

Raven's face hides under her hood as she tries to walk around the ex villain. "I need to meditate. Until then, I won't be in a favorable mood for speaking."

Jinx steps over, in Raven's way again. "That means something's wrong. Tell me."

"Nothing's wrong." Raven's voice growls. "Everything is perfectly fine."

Jinx rolls her eyes, though the demon hero didn't see it. "Sorry, not working."

Raven teleports around Jinx, appearing in the hall and walking. "You're worse than Beast Boy."

Jinx scowls, rushing to catch up. "Meditating wouldn't be necessary if you would just talk to me. I could help."

Raven sighs loudly. "My emotions are dangerous, as I've told you. I can't 'vent'. I can't experience it because it's dangerous to let my emotions out, so please drop it."

Jinx frowns. She thinks for a moment before gripping Raven's arm, stopping her. "If I did that, then you'll only bottle it up. That is not safe. If your emotions are really that dangerous, then it's better to release them before you blow up and something bad happens."

Raven still refuses to look up. "Jinx, no." She pulls her arm away before walking more.

Jinx scowls. "You know I'm right. Why don't you just let me in? It seems that nearly every time we talk, I learn something else I didn't know about you. That's not always a bad thing, but it only proves that I don't know everything."

Raven stops. "No one does."

"Your girlfriend should." Jinx says softly.

Raven quickly jolts stiff. Her hooded head checking the different directions.

Jinx sighs. "Relax. Apparently, bird boy knows already and has for a while." Raven seemed to freeze in thought, but was slightly more relaxed. "Raven." Raven sighed again. Jinx tried again. "Please tell me, Rachael."

Raven jerked when Jinx used her human name. "FINE!" She looks at Jinx, four red eyes. Jinx's eyes widened, but she didn't falter. "I made the exact same mistake! That's what's wrong!"

Jinx's brows came together in thought. "What are you-"

Raven ranted. "My friends were threatened, and I gave up. Just like that! I did the same thing as last time! Trigon got his way because I gave up. Blood nearly killed us all because I couldn't bring myself to fight while you all could have died."

Jinx opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Raven continued.

"I learned that if I had continued to fight against my father, the events last year would never have been as bad as they were, but I didn't. Apparently, I didn't learn anything from killing my father. I still give up when the time comes. I still-"

Raven's rant was cut off as Jinx's hand struck her face. Raven stared straight at Jinx, wide eyed, her red eyes changing back to her violet out of surprise. Jinx point her hand on her hip, in lecture mode. "And what would you have done?" Raven opens her mouth to speak, but Jinx cuts her off. "Don't give me that. What would have happened? Sure, you would have fought through them, but any one of us could have died. You're a hero. You did exactly what you're supposed to do. Thanks to that, none of us died."

Raven frowned, eyes to the floor. "But I-"

"Same with your father." Jinx says, cutting her off and getting Raven's attention. "You told me you killed him. Now, he's no longer terrorizing anyone. If you had resisted him, would that have put you in a position to kill him?"

Raven's eyes narrow in thought. She thought it over. _We could have fought through his forces. . . and then he'd send more. We would fight again, but there'd be more attempts. _

Jinx finished. "Same here. You could have done something, but that something would have dire consequences." Jinx pulled Raven into a hug. "You did exactly what you should have."

Raven muttered in the hug. "I was weak. . ."

Jinx shook her head with a smirk. "No-"

"Yes, I was." Raven pulled back. "You're right. I could have done something. Maybe kill Blood. But, no matter what, someone would have died. Why? Because I wasn't strong enough to stop them." She looked away. "He was." Jinx remembered.

"_You guys did great though. I bailed you out." Zane gave a chuckle. _

"Wait, you mean he actually-. . . by himself?" Jinx's eyes widened. She was suddenly afraid of him.

Raven nodded. "Even if I went full power. Even if I went in with the intent to kill, any ten of them could have held me at bay. Any more of them could have probably BEAT me. All of them together would destroy me. Yet. . ." She seemed to glare at nothing in particular. Jinx noticed a couple lights explode. Raven ranted. "He took them all by himself. Worse than that. He WALKED through them. He made them look pathetic. He-" She clenched her fists up by her head, as if about to explode. She strained to right herself. "I know." Jinx stared, waiting for an explanation. "I know demons get stronger the longer they live, and he's lived a HELL of a lot longer than me, but that's no excuse! The power difference between us is impossible. I'm-" She seemed to deflate, staring at the floor. "I'm pathetic by comparison."

Jinx chuckled, shaking her head. "You're the ultimate power house of the Titans. You're not even close to out of your teens yet, so I'm positive you'll become far stronger than even most of the Justice League when you reach your prime. You're a person who does everything out of both logic and a pure heart, with a little sarcasm for charm." She joked. She finished with a smile. "You are the farthest thing from weak." Jinx thinks to herself. _Who would think that Rae would get an inferiority complex? _

Raven is quiet a moment. "Maybe. . ." She still refuses to look up. "He IS the essence of wrath. . . Maybe my own pride is just getting in my way."

Jinx's hand comes to Raven's chin, lifting up. They lock eyes, Jinx smiling at her. "See? Wasn't that better than meditating for hours?" She kisses Raven.

Raven blushes when they pull apart. ". . . Thank you. Now, go do something else. If Robin knows, you better start giving a good impression on him."

Jinx laughs and hugs Raven. "Fine." She kisses the empath on the cheek. "Later."

Raven watches her leave with a smile. The smile falters slightly as she mutters. "I'd still like to know how he's so powerful."

"You could have just asked me." Her smile turns to a frown. She turns to see Zane leaning on the wall beside her.

"You're spying on my conversations now?"

He smirked. "I didn't know she was your lover, but I did on purposely entice her to speak to you first. I'm not good with women who are upset."

Raven glared at him. "You sound like a manipulator."

He shrugs. "I serve our father for years. You learn a thing or two." He looked at her seriously. "It really bothers you."

She scowls, but looks down. "I know I'm not really stronger than our father. Yes, I killed him, but he was in a weakened state from using his power to petrify the world. He was arrogant. He wasn't using his full power against me." She then looks in the direction Jinx walked in. "I got lucky, but still. . ."

Zane observed her. "The power you used on our father. Do you remember it?"

Raven looked at him, nodding.

"Can you use it?" He asks. His stare analytical.

She shakes her head. "I've only ever managed to do so under extreme emotional circumstances. Once in my mind when all my emotions banded with me to contain rage. I sort of used it when I learned some dark magics from a dragon. . ." She looked up to see his expression unchanged. She expected something, but she guessed this was a pure 'business' talk. "Finally, I used it against father. That was when it was most potent. My black energy turned white. I had. . . no restraints."

Zane seemed to think. "Compare it to your power when you have the sign of our father." She looks up, confused. "The four red eyes."

She nods, understanding. "I. . . don't know how strong exactly I can be when I release my power THAT much, but. . . I would guess roughly half. Why?"

Zane nods. "Can you describe the form you're in when you're most powerful."

Raven locked her stare with his. _Why would that matter? _"My clothes and powers turn white. Beast Boy lovingly refers to it as 'White Raven'. I keep two eyes that glow white as well. In the full form, my hair grew out a small bit."

Zane nods again. "Interesting. Despite being half human, you still have the same potential as the rest of us."

Raven tilts her head. "What?"

Zane shakes his head. "It's nothing." He starts to walk away, but Raven appears in front of him.

"Enough. No more excuses. I have a feeling this has something to do with your plan to deal with Azerall."

He smirks. "You're clever."

"I'm right." She surmised. "Explain."

He thought. "You're not the only one that's been curious about the other. This. . . white form is something none of us ever had." He nods at her. "You're right in that the power difference between us seems impossible. Remember that I'm not just one of your brothers. I'm two of them in one. My raw power is, while not double, much higher than it would be otherwise."

Raven nodded. "So I'll never be as powerful is what you're saying?"

He shook his head. "Not at all." He smiles. "For your information, the only powers I originally had when I was simply 'Wolf' was energy projection, raw power, and sensing life forces like I already explained. All other powers came from 'Zane'. The partial empathy. The telepathy. Teleportation. Many techniques that I've managed to incorporate."

"What are you saying?" Raven asked.

Zane smirked. "Pride is the sin that leads to all others. Your powers are a unique combination of all of the rest of us. Your mental abilities are much like Zane's. Your offensive powers, which you hardly use, are much like Wolf's. You have the ability to alter other's emotions with your empathy, which is one of Deliza's abilities. So on. So forth. You have the highest potential out of all of us. You just need time, for one thing."

Raven nodded. "For one thing? There's something else?"

"Your powers aren't entirely demonic by nature." He states. "Since childhood, you've learned mortal magics. You've shown an intense talent and affinity for it. You have your own power separate from your demonic power. I believe this white form of yours is the result of using both your full demonic power without restraints and combining that with this mortal power of yours." He puts his finger to his chin. "I'd say if 'White Raven' is as powerful as you say, it's about just as powerful as I am."

Raven glares. "Hardly a point since it doesn't work in my favor. It comes from intense emotion, the exact thing that makes me lose control and go demonic."

"Which is why you are stuck at the level you're at now." He states. "Somehow, you're going to have to release all your emotion on such an intense honest level that it will work. If it isn't strong enough, the emotions become governed by your demonic side."

"Not something I'd like to experiment with." She drones sarcastically.

He sighs, shutting his eyes. "We're going to have to."

She glares. "What?"

He looks at her. "That white form stands between us and the one thing that can let us kill Azerall." He walks past her. "We still have around a week or so before he focuses solely on Earth. We'll start tomorrow."

. . . . .

_**GNN NEWS: Lori Prince Live.**_

Lori came into view with a smile. "Good evening and welcome to Lori Prince Live. Tonight's subject: Escalation of Violence. Today, just after noon, Jump City became witness to one of the largest battles involving the resident heroes, the Titans. Their home came under siege by their entire rogues gallery. The criminals are now, for the most part, behind bars, but the question remains, can the Titans keep the bad guys under control?" He gestures to his right. "Joining me today is four star US general Wade Eiling. Sir, you have my respect."

The general appears, surprisingly physically fit and ripped for a man in his 70's. He nodded, not smiling at all. "Respect to anyone that survives a Joker raid."

Lori does a sweat drop, chuckling lowly. "And also with us today is world famous business manager for Wayne Enterprises and the Wayne Foundation, Lucius Fox. So good of you to take time from your busy schedule."

An experienced, slightly older black gentleman in a suit appears. "Pleasures all mine."

"So general, how exactly do you feel about the event? The Titans were nearly wiped out."

The general sighs. "I've seen far too many young men and women fall due to either lack of preparation or lack of resources. I've always been an advocate for open cooperation with the Justice League. I have to wonder just how little the police of Jump City actually do. Where were they? What were THEY doing to help defend their city?"

The camera went to Lucius, who leaned back in his chair. "I find myself agreeing with the general. These people who help us every day are selflessly risking their lives. The least we can do is help them when things go wrong."

The general nodded with a smirk. "The obvious answer should be an increase in funding and power to the city's defense."

Lucius shakes his head. "Unfortunately, that would not work. I understand that precautions must be taken, but such an escalation in enforcement may have the opposite effect, leading to an escalation of crime."

Lori nods with both. "Both viewpoints certainly have their own merits. The goal would have to be to find a balanced answer. To put more power to law enforcement without eliciting a negative response, but what of the Titans? Are they still capable of defending their city?"

Lucius seems to barely take the question to consideration. "They're still around. They survived. I don't see why they shouldn't be trusted with it."

Eiling shook his head. "I disagree. The fact that they came so close to falling shows that their limit is coming. Unless they choose to escalate their power as well, they'll fall sooner or later. After all, they already almost lost a member just over a week ago? Seems they are barely holding up as is. That's why we need stronger support for them. More power in our hands. Oh, sure, they can still help equally, but these are children after all. It still astounds me that they're separate from the League."

Lucius smirks. "I believe you, more than anyone here, knows that whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger, general. The Titans are indeed children. They've yet to reach their peak power. You may be incredibly underestimating them."

Eiling frowns. "I'd rather underestimate them than overstate them. Trust me when I say this. The day will come when they face something they alone can't face."

. . . . .

_**Failure is unacceptable.**_

_How could I have foreseen his presence? _

_**To fail my will is to go against my will.**_

_Mercy. . . I can still succeed!_

_**You will have one more chance. Or you will die. **_

_But. . . how can I face him? He took away my power._

_**Your power? It was never yours to begin with, but I suppose I can give you more.**_

_I. . . thank you, my lord._

Blood sat, hunched over in a chair, his skin and features back to normal. The air around him crackles. "Yes." He looks up as his eyes glow red. His teeth sharpen slightly. "I will do all within my power. . . to crush the bloodline of Trigon."


	15. Chapter 15

**No GNN NEWS this time around, though only because the chapter ended up WAY longer than I expected. . . You'll get one next time if you're clamming for one I promise. :D**

"So wait, you guys are going to train? How?" The blonde asked.

Raven sighed, her hair black as she took a sip from her tea. "I don't know. He said he'd get 'things prepared'. Though he would not elaborate on what 'things' he was referring to."

Seeing as it was still early morning, and the tower was half wrecked, the four had decided to eat out for breakfast. Four? Well, they have an extra blonde and a redhead tagging along. Of course, since Raven had a full day ahead, they forced her to choose the restaurant. She chose IHOP.

Jinx grumbled. "I still don't understand why we couldn't stop at Starbucks first." She leaned heavily on the table. "I'm tired as hell after yesterday and need a pick me up."

Raven lectured. "It's unhealthy, and if I wanted a milkshake, I'd go to an ice cream shop." Raven explained.

Jinx jolted up. "For the love of- It's coffee! Who cares if there's a shit ton of cream? We cannot seriously still be arguing about this!"

Raven just looked at her. "Proper English cares. If it comes with a top full of whipped cream and is half milk and sugar with multiple flavors, it isn't coffee."

Jinx turned her glare to the other two girls. "You two. Answer or die. Coffee or milkshake."

Terra answered nervously. "Um. . . well, most of the people at my school had called it coffee. . ."

"HA!" Jinx jolted up with an arm pump.

Star answered blankly. "Perhaps I am missing the similarities, but I see nothing in common with the household beverage of caffeine."

Jinx's head hit the table. "So it's a tie?! God damn it."

Terra muttered. "Plus, I always thought they were really stretching the definition of coffee."

Jinx jolted up, first seeing the amused smile on Raven's face, then the nervous smile on Terra's. "TRAITOR!"

Terra slumps. "Please quit calling me that."

Jinx turned back to Raven, who still smiled, but the amusement started to show in her eyes. Jinx muttered. "Shut the hell up."

"When did I say anything?" Raven said, amused.

"You thought about it." Jinx scowled. "New subject. Any news on the T-Ship thing?"

Raven smirk grew. "Can't admit you're wrong? You're worse than Beast Boy."

Jinx looked at Terra, who blushes slightly. Jinx smirks. "I'm never wrong."

Starfire spoke, taking Jinx's boast too literally. "But what about the time you said we would not defeat you, and then we did?"

"Well, that was-"

"Or when you had a plan with the HIVE FIVE that you said would not fail, and-"

"I see your point Star."

"Or how about-"

Jinx's hand claps over Star's mouth. "I wasn't being literal. Now, hush." The waitress came in with their food, quickly giving out the breakfast items. Jinx stared at Raven's waffles. "That is still the most random thing."

"What?" Raven asked confused.

Jinx chuckled. "Nothing."

Terra pointed out. "You know, you two are pretty much acting like you're on a date. Me and Star are pretty much just watching. It's cute, but why did you bring us?" She joked about it, but was legitimately curious.

The two in question blushed. Jinx shrugs. "With Blood still running around, it's better to be in groups than in small numbers, right?"

Raven explains. "I didn't want Cyborg and Beast Boy assuming things if just Jinx and I left."

Star looked perplexed. "But they would be correct."

Jinx chuckles. "It WOULD get Kid Flash to stop hitting on us."

Raven looks at Star. "How exactly did Robin find out about us?"

Star looks nervous, twiddling her fingers. "Um. . ."

"Star. . . . . ."

"He already knew before I did." Star said nervously.

Raven and Jinx both snap their heads to her. "How?!"

"I believe his answer when I asked him was 'because I'm a detective.'"

Jinx sat down with a scowl. "Smug jackass." This made Star frown. Jinx smiled apologetically. "Sorry." The group laughed together at that.

. . . . .

"Hmm. This is the right one?" Zane holds one of Raven's books open to a specific page. He compared that with the marks engraved in the rocks. "Hmm a central spell circle with various slots open around it. Just add the symbols of aspects?" He leaves the book open as he used his energy to slash further engravings into the ground. Each new symbol was placed in one of the previously vacant spaces.

He looked back to the book. "Ugh, I hate working outside my expertise." He reads off the symbols. First was a pink marking. "Happiness." Second was yellow. "Knowledge." Third was green. "Courage." Fourth was purple. "Passion." Fifth was gray. "Timidity" Sixth was orange. "Rude." Seventh was red. "Rage." The Eighth and final was Blue. "Calm."

The center circle glowed a dull white. He examined it and compared it to the picture in the book. He gives off a sigh. "Magical rituals. Not my thing, but it'll have to do." He sensed Raven approach as she flew down. He greeted her without looking. "Yo."

Raven looked at the circle. Her eyes widened, realizing. "This. . . this is an binding circle. You place the aspects of a person or creature you want to quell in order to change it's behavior." She looked at him weirdly. "Its in the same school of magic as the spell that separated my emotions in the first place."

Zane shut the book. "No. Take a closer look at the incantation markings around the circle. This is the opposite." He looks at her. "Instead of quelling your emotions, we're going to skyrocket them." He finished with a smirk.

Raven stepped back, a panicked look on her face. "I can't. I'll lose control."

Zane tries to smile comfortingly. "If you go wrathful, I'll stop you."

That statement both comforted and made her pissed. The way he knows that he's currently stronger. It got under her skin. "I. . . would appreciate precautions."

As if in answer, the entire area gave a dull black glow as a large magic circle encompassed a thirty yard radius. Zane looked around at his handiwork. "I've had a busy morning. Got enough here to piss father off, royally. It'll hold you. Hell, it would hold me too."

Raven frowned. "I'm not taking a single step towards that circle until you finally explain your plan. What's the endgame? Why are we doing this?"

The two locked eyes, Raven not backing down. Zane finally sighed. "Fine." He turned to fully face her, his face dead serious. "There's a ritual. One that is very specific, and very hard to pull off. To do so, it requires certain measures." He looks at the circles. "I need you to be able to separate your human and demonic aspects." That made Raven do a double take. He added. "By no means is it easy nor permanent. In fact, the demonic aspect wouldn't even have a body. Think of it like your soul self leaving you to enter someone else's mind, except it will have to stay out for a small period and sustain itself without a body during the ritual."

Raven stared wide eyed. "That's. . . possible?"

Zane shrugs. "It's supposedly been done before, though I have no first, second, or even third hand knowledge of an instance of it occurring. Very few half breeds exist in the first place. However, to separate the aspects, you'll first need full reign on both. You'll need to be able to control all your powers and enter these forms willingly. The same level of control Deliza and I have."

"For what? What does this ritual do?" Raven said, confused.

Zane looked up in thought. "How to explain this? The only force I can think of that can defeat Azerall is the same force that beat him in the first place. Trigon." He looked as if they were in a life or death situation. "We're going to resurrect Trigon's power and place it within your body. Then, you will kill Azerall."

. . . . .

Jinx looked up in the Titan hangar. "Well, that's not something you see everyday." She absent mindedly patted Cyborg's back to comfort as he looked with tears.

The T-Ship was right back where it was before. . . most of it. Half the plating around it was ripped off entirely. Open circuitry. Missing engines and systems entirely. Three of the five cockpits were destroyed.

She sweat dropped when an engine sparked. "I'm sure it's not nearly as bad as it-"

The sparking engine falls off, hitting the ground. Cyborg's mouth hangs open in shock. Beast Boy looked over to the pink haired girl. "Jinxed it."

"Shove it, dog." She replied.

Robin hopped down from the main cockpit. He had a note in hand. He reads. "Told you I'd bring it back, Tin Man. It was very useful. Some good toys in it."

Cyborg simply mouthed 'I will kill him.'

Robin shakes his head. "Well, most of the tower is fixed. Jinx and Kid Flash, you patrol the northern half of the city. Starfire and Beast Boy, take the south."

Jinx turned, offended. "Since when do I take any orders from you?"

Robin faced her with a smirk. "Don't know. Why are you still here?" His smirk said that he knew why.

She chokes on air a second, failing to come up with an excuse. "I. . . it isn't safe until Blood's gone. That's all. I'm just using you."

Robin shrugged. "Fair enough, but you're going to follow orders while you're here." He smiled and turned away.

Kid Flash appeared from nowhere, his arm around Jinx. "Well, I certainly can't complain about a romantic night in the town." He finishes with a smirk.

She glares straight ahead. ". . . take it off. . . or I break it off." He took the arm off, crossing his arms.

. . . . .

Raven exploded. "Why the hell would we do anything with his power?! In fact, no, how is that possible? He's dead!"

"What's the one thing that all near immortal beings fear?" He asks out of nowhere.

Raven stops to think. Her mind overwhelmed, but she finds the answer after a moment. "Death."

"More so than any mere mortal."

Raven nodded. "Most will come up with plans and methods to stay in the mortal realm even after death. Others will plan their whole resurrections-" She looked at Zane.

"Exactly." He states. "The ritual requires seven demons to perform. Then, it requires a vessel." Raven tilts her head confused. "Seven children of Trigon. Why do you think that each of us is modeled around one of the seven sins?"

Raven's blank expression gave no answer.

Zane put one finger up. "One of the most powerful demons that reveled in destruction. Wrath." A second finger. "Delights in plots and letting others do his work for his entertainment. Sloth." Third finger. "Gleefully takes part in all pleasures. Greed." Four. "Despises what he can't have. Envy." Five. "Consumes all he finds. Gluttony." He holds up his left index finger. "He enjoys the pleasures of the body. Especially when it isn't consented. Lust." One final finger. "He is boastful, arrogant, and proud. Pride." He puts his fingers down. "Trigon himself is the ultimate representation of the seven sins we are based on."

"What are you implying?" She had a bad feeling.

"Most demons will ensure their own revival through reincarnation. Procreate and have a child and attempt to possess it upon their death. However, Trigon wasn't willing to risk that. Facing a single opponent with everything on the line? Too much risk. Father was proud, but not an idiot. Instead, he made a different approach. One that worked whether or not his children betrayed him." He explained.

Raven's eyes widened. "He. . . can still be revived?"

Zane looks down in irritation. "Can and will. Each of us contain one of his aspects, a sin. Whenever one of us dies, that aspect is released from us." He looks her in the eye. "You, Deliza, and I are the only ones alive, and once we die, our aspects will reunite with those of our other siblings. Trigon will resurrect."

Raven's eyes widened in horror. She paled and didn't realize she was holding her breath. Zane suddenly held his hands up in a calming gesture.

"Relax. You won't have to worry about that. What do you think I do for most of my time? Trust me. After we all die, there will be plenty of presents to blow up in father's face and send him right back to hell." Zane finished with a smile. The smile faded as he continued. "This ritual will call the essences of our dead siblings. Deliza, myself, and your demonic aspect will join to complete the ritual. However, instead of resurrecting Trigon, we will bind his power into a body." He looked at her seriously. "Your body. No one else can do it since the seven of us are required for the ritual itself. Your human aspect will take the power in."

Raven narrowed her glare at him. "Or could do any number of other things. Something tells me that this has huge risks. How can I know that this isn't a trap? You could be lying to me."

Zane slowly walks to Raven, locking eyes. She's forced to look up a bit, due to him being taller. He slowly points to his head. "Look for yourself."

Raven takes a moment, but nods. She brings her hand up, bringing it to his temple. Her vision brightens as she sees directly into Zane's own memories.

. . . . .

"I'm going to kill that bird brained ass." Jinx muttered.

She landed on the ground flawlessly. She sprinted through several alleys, then hops off the side walls of two buildings to the top. She lands and looks around. She then got that familiar feeling. Someone was about to sneak up on her.

"What do you want?"

Kid Flash stood behind her. "We ARE supposed to be patrolling together."

Jinx was surprised. She quickly looked around again. _Usually it's X whenever I get that feeling. . . _She sighs. "Sure, whatever. You take half the north, I'll take the other."

KF smirks. "Okay." He speeds off. He appears a few seconds later. "I'm done. Guess I'll see you home."

Jinx knew she was being laughed at. "Smartass. Also, don't say home. I don't have one." She continued looking around. _I could swear I felt Red X about to sneak up on me. _

Kid Flash said seriously with a smile. "The tower seems open to you." Jinx gives him the stink eye, which he laughs at. "I'm serious. You get along well with them despite being a former enemy."

Jinx rolls her eyes. "Oh yes, Jinx, the next Teen Titan, coming through." She looked back at him. "I'm just the person that gave them a tip. As soon as Blood is behind bars, they won't have many problems with locking me up again."

KF crossed his arms. "Someone's a Negative Nancy."

She looks at him. She gestures him closer. He steps withing grabbing range, confident he can get away if she tries something. She points down. "Mcfly, your shoe's untied." He looks down, confused, which gives her enough time to flick her finger up, hexing him off the roof.

He comes back after a few seconds, holding his nose. "That wasn't cool."

She snickers. "Don't piss me off." She looked up, seeing movement. She focuses upward, seeing a figure quickly glide around the corner. "The hell?" She leaps from the building, leaving KF confused.

She lands on the next roof, free running through a shortcut. She jumps onto another building, hanging off the side on a fireplace. She sees the flying figure move around a far off skyscraper. "You mind letting me help you?" She looks down, seeing KF looking up at her.

She huffs, dropping down into his arms. "Whatever. GO!" He speeds away, carrying her.

. . . . .

_Simple. That was the world it was. _

_A time when right and wrong. . . were as easy to see as black and white. _

_It was easy to see. . . what was happening was wrong. _

_Screams were heard as men came from their houses, readying swords and bows. One man hurried to his family, placing armor on his body. Many a villager began to kneel as they prayed. . . _

_Their prayers went unanswered as the sky turned red. _

_**Wrath. . . has come. **_

_The sky seemed to rip, a burning inferno fireball erupting from the rift. The villagers screamed as the ball smashed into the ground just outside the village, catching the surrounding forests. _

_The villagers lowered their guard, looking up at the rift as it closed. The sky seemed to return to its blue color. The villagers cried out happy. Their prayers had been answered! _

_However, one woman let a scream, having found a little boy. The boy climbed from the fiery pit, burned black pants and a ripped shirt. The boy looked no older than eight or nine. A full head of red hair. _

_An elder lady smiled warmly, gesturing the boy into a protective hug. He stepped towards her. . . a creeping smile coming to the boy. His eyes hidden. . . _

_Blood smears, ripped flesh, screams of death. The village now laid in a burning ruin. The same boy stumbled through like a mindless zombie. He stops by part of a rubble covered hut. His sense told him something. He smirked as he ripped the rubble away, smiling wide upon seeing a young man with a sword standing protectively over a young girl, no older than five. The boy smiled insanely at the two. When it was over, the girl's corpse was pinned to her father's torso, all limbs and head gone. _

_The view changed to a new village entirely. A red blast collapsed a massive cabin. An armored knight charges forward at the small boy. His sword strikes, breaking into shards upon contact. The boy's smirk returns as he pierces his hand into the man's chest through his arm, ripping his hand down. The action removes the front of the knight's ribcage and slamming the now bleeding out corpse into the ground. _

_The boy examined his bloody hand, his body rumbling in a chuckle. The boy's head whips back, revealing four red eyes. The laugh. . . the same psychotic, completely pleasured laugh Raven heard upon her first encounter with her brother, only slightly higher pitched. _

_Suddenly, a yellow beam strikes the boy into a building, the structure exploding when the boy comes out, smile gone. Standing in front of him stood a man in his prime, muscled and strong. Golden cape, gauntlets, boots, belt, and helmet. The rest was jet black. The hero spoke. "Demon. You don't belong in this world. Begone."  
_

_The boy snickered. "Neither do you, Nabu. I'm here to stay."  
_

"_Then your fate is written." They charged one another. Their clash of gold and red energy blinds the scene. _

_The environment changed entirely. A new man in the same golden outfit stood. More lean than the last. He floated over a mountain range. The hill below him split down the middle as the rocky hill morphed upward, sandwiching the hero. Suddenly, a golden Ankh glows on the rock before the uplifted land is instantly vaporized. _

_The boy appeared behind Nabu, or Dr Fate. Fate teleported out of the attack, appearing above. He blasts the boy deep into the earth below. "It's over Wolf! You cannot defeat me. Should my champion fall, another will rise."_

_The boy on the ground fades away into red energy. A clone. Fate turns around as Wolf rockets in, missile drop kicking the lord of order into another mountain. "Then I'll kill each man, woman and child until none are left to replace you!" Wolf charges a blast as Fate recovers. They each launch the next attack, ending in yet another clash. _

_**Wrath has failed. . . but only just. Perhaps more is needed.**_

_The boy, now a couple inches taller, sat on the edge of a cliff. His four red eyes still shined, as always. His frown was easy to notice. _

"_You are Wolf?" The boy turned to see another man. He was lean, slumped shoulders. He had bright orange eyes and parted messy black hair. He wore simple old clothing. _

_Wolf glares with his four red eyes. "Yes."_

"_I'm Zane." _

_Wolf chuckled. "That name means gift from god. A little ironic." The boy then turned serious. "Let's go kill us a Dr."_

Zane watched Wolf lead the way. A funny image. A ten year old leading what looked like a 20 year old?Zane sighed. "Hn."

_A church was seen next. The entrance explodes inward, Wolf flying through into the front. He shook his head, seeing Fate fly in, energy in hand. Wolf jumps up, avoiding a power punch. Wolf kicks Fate into the ground, but the hero phases into the floor, teleporting behind Wolf with another blast. _

_Outside the church, a burning city filled the landscape. The church explodes, Wolf flying into the sky before recovering. He looks around, seeing Zane observing from a far off tower. _

_Wolf opens his mouth to yell, but Fate appears, smacking Wolf down into the dirt road. Wolf looks up, Fate launching a massive blast. Just before it hits, Zane appears by Wolf, grabbing him before teleporting the two away. _

_They appear in the center of the town. Wolf chokes on some blood. "What took you so long?" _

_Zane shrugs. "You seemed like you had it." _

"_Lazy bastard." _

"_Hn." Fate came back in, creating golden fire and blasting it at Zane. Zane sighed, the ground becoming coated in orange energy and uplifting, blocking the flames. Fate appears between the two, launching two attacks at the two. Wolf clashes with his as Zane grabs the coming energy. His orange energy coats over the golden blast. The beam is redirected around, coming back to Fate, who blocks it with a large shield. _

_Wolf roars back, slamming Fate away from behind. He prepares to charge again, but looks at Zane who doesn't move. "Aren't you going to attack?" _

_Zane sighed. "I have you to do that for me." Wolf growls, leaving the smirking Zane behind. _

_The scenery changed yet again. Zane laid on the ground, bleeding. Wolf stood over the injured Fate. "You did this to my brother. . ." Wolf growled out. "I'll kill you." _

_Fate observed him, not too injured to fight, but far from full strength. "You care for him? Here I thought a child of Trigon wouldn't bat an eyelash." Wolf steps forward as Fate mutters. "We could make a deal." He stops. "If I save your brother, would you give up your conquest of Earth?" _

_Wolf's eyes widened. He looked at the bleeding Zane. "I never cared about the conquest. I only cared for the challenge." _

_Fate noted. "It seems even demons are forced to care about more."_

**KILL HIM!**

_Wolf clutched his head. His hatred flaring. He looked at his dying brother. "But Zane-" _

_**I do not care for him. He has served his purpose and weakened Fate enough for you to win. Attack!**_

_Wolf's anger. His hatred. His wrath came back. His power flared as Fate took a defensive stance. However, the wrath was no longer directed at Fate. Wolf clutched his head. "So that's all we are?! A means to an end?!" Wolf clapped his hands together. His power erupted. He glared at Fate. "You have a deal." _

_Trigon's will asserted itself, but Wolf fought it off. Fate brought Wolf to Zane, placing one hand on each. The view blinded in a golden light._

_Upon the light's dimming, Fate found that Zane's body was gone. He looked at Wolf. "His will shall live on. . . through you." _

_The scene changed to Wolf, once more alone. However, he no longer looks with four red eyes. He had two bright orange eyes and a somber look. _

_. . . . . _

KF skidded to a halt with Jinx. "There!" They see the figure.

Jinx squints her eyes, seeing orange skin. "Oh? Starfire? I thought she was in the southern part of the city."

The figure lands. Jinx and KF share a confused look before he rockets towards the figure's location.

They skid to a halt outside a warehouse. Jinx looked up, seeing the wall of the warehouse. "Oh crap. . ."

The wall had a large graffiti sign. 'X MARKS THE SPOT'. Then, it had an arrow pointing down. The two teens looked down, a massive X on the ground.

"Fuck-" Jinx got out before the X erupted in sticky red foam. Kid Flash tosses Jinx away as the foam engulfs him.

Jinx lands, preparing to blast the foam with a hex. However, a glow caught her attention as she ducked a purple blast. She came back up with pink energy crackling around her hand. "Calm down, girlies."

Jinx turned to find an old annoyance, sitting cross legged on a crate. Jinx looks back to the other newcomer. She was orange like Starfire, but with black hair and purple eyes. "Who the heck are you?"

The girl narrowed her eyes. "Who are you?"

X chuckles, getting both girls' attention. "Lucky, meet Princess. Princess, meet Lucky."

"It's Jinx." Jinx said irritated.

"It's Blackfire." The girl said in the same tone.

Jinx merely stared weirdly at Blackfire. "You look like Starfire."

Blackfire bristled. "Don't mention my sister."

Jinx's mouth hung open slightly, pointing. X chuckled. "Recently busted from a galactic jail."

Jinx pointed at Red X, then to Blackfire. "Wait, so you stole the Titans' ship to . . . bust her out of jail?" Jinx crossed her arms. "That seems like a little too much effort."

"I agree." The three look over to see Kid Flash vibrating out of the foam. "You know, if you wanted to talk, you could have just. . . talked." KF looked at Blackfire. "Different person. Just as lovely."

She gives a lusty smile. "Why thank you."

"Back on subject." Red X says, uncharacteristically business like. He looks at Jinx. "I have something to ask." He looks at Kid Flash. "I guess him being here is unavoidable. Oh, well."

. . . . .

_Wolf was now older. The fact that it showed was a testament to time. Several hundred years had passed. He looked like a thirteen year old now, floating in place by a plateau. His hand gripped the throat of a woman. The woman had black eyes, torn apart silk clothing, and long dark green hair. _

_**Envy can drive the actions of many. . .**_

_Wolf glared with his four red eyes. "I will spare you this once, Lyzza. You are my sister. Know when I say this. Father does not care for you. Don't throw your life away." He released her throat, leaving her imprinted in the rock._

_However, it seems envy indeed drives many. Lyzza appeared, throwing balls of fire, skin burning red, her four crimson eyes glaring. She laughed as she manipulates lava to erupt from the ground. Once more, Dr Fate was set against such a demon. _

_Lyzza appeared in front of him, creating a crimson ankh that locked Fate in place. She chuckled. "In the glory of TRIGON!" _

_Wolf teleported in, his power filled fist smashing into her jaw and sending her away. Fate frees himself, creating golden chains that latch onto the dazed Lyzza. _

_Wolf channeled his power, sending out a full pack of red crimson eyed energy wolves. They each latched onto Lyzza at different spots on her body before they exploded. _

_Wolf fell to a knee, Fate glancing at him. "You are injured."  
_

_Wolf grinned. "I can live. . ." Lyzza gets up, her wounds healing instantly. Wolf steps back. "Instant regen. . . that's new." He looked at Fate. "She copy that from you?" Fate shook his head. _

_Lyzza released an golden orange blast, launching both Fate and Wolf deep into a forest. She chases after them, but they each port away. _

_After looking around for them, the two teleport back in, right in front of her. Wolf and Fate put their palms near each other as they energies mixed into one powerful blast. Which a roar from them, they fired point blank. _

_The environment changed to the top of a grassy hillside. Wolf sat cross legged in front of a tombstone. Behind him stood a brown haired man with crystal blue eyes. He held the Helmet of Fate, the artifact that transforms him into Dr Fate. The stone read 'Lyzza the Lizard. Third heir of Trigon the Terrible. 1568-1597'. _

_**A glutton never has its uses. . .**_

_The scene changed once again, a rocky desert location. A fist crushed into the rock, smashing down a massive pillar of rock. Wolf, now looking nearly fifteen years old, stood with crimson eyes showing. "You mean to tell me my newest brother died." _

_A man with a green glow and ring floated over him. "I do apologize, but it was an action that needed to be done."_

Wolf nodded. "He was a fool." He looked up at the Green Lantern. "Thank you for letting telling me when I asked. I understand my position is. . . strained."

_The lantern nodded. "We respect your attempts at repentance." _

_Wolf snorted. "I don't even care about that." He then frowned. "I only care about saving my siblings." He then added just loud enough for himself. "Three more chances." _

_**Lust drives men to do many violent things. . . **_

_The scene changes once more. A mature blond woman in her prime sits in a house of luxury with a smirk. Behind her was a family picture of her and a man with an infamous mustache. The door opened. "Ah, time to work my magic." She said to herself. She walked towards the door. She put on a German accent. "Adolf-" She stops, seeing the red headed Wolf, wearing a standard German military uniform, probably looted from someone. He looked almost identical to the one Raven sees today. _

"_Sorry, German isn't a language I speak well, Eva. Or is it. . . Deliza?" He said with a smirk. _

_The blonde woman shifted and transformed into a blue haired beauty with glowing crimson red eyes. "Who are you? How do you know that name?" _

_Wolf walked through the room. "It took my a LONG time to find you. Over a century, in fact. Though, the fact that you change identity and possess others might have contributed to that." _

_Deliza glares. "I asked you a question. You speak to a daughter of Trigon the Terrible. Coming to me like this guarantees your death." _

_Wolf smirks before glaring at her with the same eyes. "How is that a good way to greet your older brother?" _

_The halted and stepped back. "My. . ." Her eyes turned to her gorgeous blue. She was shocked._

He then turned serious. "I'm going to give you one chance. Only one. To give this up."

_**The ultimate force for corruption. . . Greed.**_

_Once more, the scene changed. An old club. Cigar smokers were everywhere. Mob members shared drinks as the door opened. Wolf stepped in, now wearing simple khaki pants and a black shirt. He smirked when he found the man he was looking for. As he approached, two mob members tried to stand in his way. _

_Suddenly, two tendrils of crimson energy grip them by the necks and toss them across the room. Several men whip out pistols and shotguns, opening fire on Wolf, who coats himself in energy, repelling the shots with ease. He stepped to the main table. A mob boss with cut off sleeves on his suit showed off muscular arms. He wore a fedora, white hair showing underneath and covering one eye. His other eye was a bright pure yellow. "May I help you?" He asked impatiently. "My boys are precious resources to me. Damage any more, and I'll have to ask you for compensation." _

_Wolf looked down on the sitting man who looked in his mid thirties. "Does the name Scath mean anything to you?" _

_The mobster chuckles. "I have nothing to do with that name anymore. You're from the Church? Lemme guess, you're the new Blood?" _

_Wolf chuckles before his eyes flash to four crimson ones. "Not even close." _

_The man laughed. "I've heard of you, brother. Wolf."_

"I prefer Zane." He muttered.

"_I'm Evaris. You don't need to lecture me about quitting Trigon's ambitions. Already done. Now, please go. I have plans to make." _

_Wolf narrowed his eyes, but nodded. _

_The next scene that came was Wolf and Deliza standing over Evaris' corpse. In the realm of demons, he and his mobsters, most super powered, had just been slaughtered by Trigon's forces. Wolf shook his head, leaving. _

_Many years passed. Time went on until finally. . . Wolf heard the news. _

_**Pride. The sin that leads to all others.**_

. . . . .

Jinx and Kid Flash entered the common room. Robin was speaking with Cyborg before seeing them. "You're back early."

Jinx looks at Kid Flash. The speedster started. "Um. . . Robin? There's something we've been offered."

Cyborg looked up from his computer. "What's going on?"

Robin narrowed his vision. Kid Flash gestured Jinx. She sighed. "We have the chance to learn Blood's location. We'll know where he is, how to go in, exactly when to move to save everyone."

Cyborg smiled. "Say what? That's fantastic!"

Robin scowled. "What's the bad news, then?"

Kid Flash answered lowly. "We would need to team up. . . with Slade."

. . . . .

_The sky darkened. Lights shined into the sky as blimps floated over. People flooded the streets, many homeless. The roads were filthy. _

_Cars came by as you could visibly see more pollution going into the air. This city was dark. A teen in a dark jacket and black pants walked through the streets, his hood up to keep the rain off. _

_He stopped in front of an alley, people passing by him. "I hate Gotham City." He stepped into the alley. He could see homeless around every corner. He moved through a broken wall into another alley, one without an entrance of its own. He walks down it, finding a hidden door. He knocks on the door. _

_A voice responded. "Who is the lord and savior?" _

_The orange eyed teen droned. He didn't mind lying to idiots. "Lord Scath." _

_The door opened, an elder priest appeared with a comforting smile. "It is nice to see the young take interest in us-"_

Wolf growled. "Where's Blood?" The man stopped.

"_I'm sorry, but who are you?" The man demanded. Four crimson eyes was his response. _

_Wolf walked through. "I'll let myself in, thank you. I'm pretty sure I can find my way." Wolf made his way through the corridors as stairs obviously led him underground. He passed various followers of the church, who would give him friendly greetings, but he ignored them. He finally came to a final door, a single pulse of red blasting it down. He stepped into the office, his energy picking the door up and re fixing it on the doorway. Wolf looked forward. "Hello, Blood." _

_Before him sat a man with dark brown hair, with a stray gray hair here and there. The man was surprised. "My-. . . my lord? It is an honor to finally meet you! Have you come to-" _

_Wolf's power created a pressure in the room, forcing Blood to catch his breath. "Save it. Where is she?" _

_Blood started to sweat. "I don't know who you're talking about."  
_

_Wolf scowled. "Really? You guys get my father laid enough for you not to know which I mean?" Blood frowned, which meant he knew exactly what Wolf was here for. "Where. Is. Raven?" _

_Blood took a sip of coffee. He let out a sigh, trying extremely hard to stay calm. "Miss Roth has long since dropped off our radar. I can not help you." _

_Wolf stepped up to the desk Blood sat at. "You have ten seconds to tell me." _

_Blood was visibly afraid, but kept his ground. "I tell the truth. Your father has neglected to include us on this venture, so I do not have any information for you." _

_Wolf concentrates, sensing Blood's emotions. Pure fear. He was telling the truth. "Where was the last location you saw Angela Roth." _

_It seemed time passed, as Wolf appeared on a building in Gotham. Blue energy shined for a single moment. He turned to see Deliza joining him. "Well? Where is she?" _

_Wolf sighed. "I don't know exactly. But. . . word is her mother fled to Azarath." _

_Deliza paused. "Then. . . you know you definitely can not go there. Pacifists they are, they'd have no problems killing you. It's one of the strongest locations for magic users." _

_Wolf nodded. "In which case, she's in good hands." He turned. "I'll have my ears perked for any information on her. I don't know what father has planned, but if I can help save her, I will." He began to walk away. "I don't want to fail another sibling." _

_Wolf suddenly appeared in a large city. The buildings burned bright as everything began to fall to ruin. Raven instantly recognized this location. The Temple of Azarath. Wolf stood at the entrance. He slowly walked in, sensing the remaining life. At first he sensed none, but finally felt a very light power. _

_He sprinted through the temple. He smelt blood in the air and burning meat. He skidded around a corner, finding bodies everywhere. One was still alive. A woman in her early thirties. She had purple hair. She looked up, bleeding from the mouth. She'd been impaled into the wall while sitting down against it. "Wh-. . Who are you?" _

_Wolf walked up, kneeling next to her. His eyes showed little sympathy. "I'm not exactly here to help, but. . . sorry I'm late." He then realizes he didn't introduce himself. "I'm Zane 'Wolf' Ulric. . . First born son of Trigon."  
_

_Her eyes widen. "Y-y-you-"_

He shushes her. "Save your energy." He needed to word this right. "She may be dead now, but can you help me find Angela Roth?"

_The woman's eyes widened. She then calmed. "I am she, though now I go by the name Arella." _

_He looks at her wound. "Here I wish I had healing abilities." He looks her in the eye. "I wanted to help Raven. Can you tell me where she is?" _

_Arella looked at him. "You say you're related to Trigon, yet you show no sign that you're like him at all."_

Suddenly, four crimson eyes appeared. A deadly aura filled the area. "Trust me. I could if you want me to." His features suddenly revert to the teen looking human with a comforting smile. "But right now, I just want to find my sister." He then looks at her wound.

_Arella nods. Her body was beginning to give out. "When she finds herself in trouble, she'll come here for help, only to find it destroyed. I wish I could give her some last words." _

_Wolf nods, placing a hand on her. He did an incantation as a part of his power went into her. He smiled at her. "That should be enough energy to leave a projection of yourself behind. You can give you some last words yourself."_

Arella stared at him, wide eyed. "Thank you." Arella coughs blood. She finally tells him what he came for. "She. . . went to Earth." Wolf nodded. He stood, preparing to walk away, but Arella said one last thing. "You're name was Wolf?"

_Wolf stops. "I prefer Zane, after my first brother. I guess this is goodbye. . . step. . . mother?" He chuckled at how awkward that sounded._

She smiles. "Thank you."

_Wolf smirks before sprinting away. _

_Despite everything. . . He was late. He came as fast as he could, only to find his father dead. Earth continued as it was. He still didn't know about Jump City or the Titans, but the fact that Earth was still there meant that she won. He had gone to the realm his father occupied, finding nothing. His father was truly dead. _

_The irony was not lost on him. Despite all the work he did to undermine his father and all the plans he made, the person to kill him was his little sister he spent years searching for. _

_Finally, he decided that meant he should leave her be. She was half human, and thus had connection to these humans. She could live a life with them without further trauma from her family. He left her be, until the day he faced Azerall. . . and knew he had no chance of victory on his own. _

_. . . . ._

Raven's hand fell from his temple. She simply looked at him, shocked. He looked back with no emotion in his eyes. "Sorry for being forced to bring you back into family matters, but. . . can you trust me not to betray you?"

Raven doesn't even hesitate. She nods. She looks at the spell circle on the ground. She steps into the middle. "What are you waiting for? Let's start."


	16. Chapter 16

A single voice replayed, over and over. A voice that plagued him

_Patience. Trust is easy to destroy, but it takes time to build._

_For some time now, I have been searching for... an apprentice. Someone to follow in my footsteps. And Robin, I've chosen you. Congratulations. _

_If you join me... if you swear to serve me... if you never speak to your friends again... I will allow them to live. But... if you disobey even the smallest request... I will annihilate them, Robin - and I will make you watch. So, do we have a deal? _

_Robin, that was vicious, dishonorable, and ruthless. Excellent work. You're becoming more like me every second. _

_My apologizes, as usual, my apprentice can't seem to control herself. That's why from now on, I'll be controlling her every move. _

No matter the circumstance, he never stated his true objective. What need he had for an apprentice. However, he never missed an opportunity to goad us. To usher a response from us. To anger us.

_Take my word for it, Robin. You shouldn't play with fire. _

_Skies will burn. Flesh will become to stone. The sun will set on your world, never to rise again. _

_Time won't wait forever; You can't run away from who you are! _

_Tick-tock, Raven. Time is running out. _

_Silly girl. I'm not the one to be afraid of. _

Even in the times he's had the most chances of victory, he'd stop himself, if only to give us a tiny piece of wise words. But isn't that just his way of mocking?

_I do love my job. _

A former mercenary. Everything in his life is a job.

_I didn't bring them into this. You did. The day you came into their lives. Tick tock, Raven. Time is running out. _

_Sorry to disappoint you, Robin. But I'm not here to fight. I'm here to help. _

_It's the end of the world. Did you think it would be easy? I don't expect you to win. I don't even expect you to live - only endure. _

_I kept my word. How about a little gratitude? _

Why does his actions and words seem to contradict each other?

. . . . .

The door to the tower opened, slowly, with a light creak creak. Cyborg muttered to Robin. "You sure we didn't need Wildebeest or the brothers?"

Robin scowled. "I'm positive we could use their help, but they have their own homes and problems to deal with. We couldn't keep them here forever."

Beast Boy frowned. He glanced at the blonde next to him, who simply stared like a robot at the open doorway. "You probably shouldn't-"

Terra cut him off. "I can handle it. . . thank you." She continues to stare blankly.

Jinx shifted uncomfortably. "I know he's pretty much your greatest enemy, but I can practically FEEL the hate coming off you guys." She looked at Starfire, who even she had a hateful stare that could kill. That's actually an impressive achievement to get that look from her. She looked over to Raven, who seemed indifferent. "Can't tell if you're just that good at hiding anger, or if you're the only one that doesn't care."

Raven stares ahead. "He has something to say to us. Might as well hear it out. After all, even if it was for his own gain, he helped us."

Kid Flash stepped in through the door way. He took one look at Robin, frowning. "They're here."

Everyone tensed as a few sets of footsteps sounded. On both sides of the doorway stood one of his agents. The right side stood Red X. The left stood Blackfire. Star locked eyes with her sister in a mix of confusion and anger. Black responded with a small smile and a smirk, but as soon as her gaze left Star, he face blanked.

A taller man steps through the middle. One that everyone recognizes. A helmet half black and half orange bronze. His voice sounded. "It's so nice to see your smiling faces again." He looked to see Terra, who's eyes looked like she could stab him without feeling bad. "Some have been missed more than others. Hello, Terra."

Robin spoke. "You came here to negotiate? Well, negotiate Slade."

He chuckles. "As business like as always, I see." He sees KF and Jinx. "I see you have new faces too." He focuses on Jinx. "If you can't beat them, join them?"

Jinx glares. "Not by choice, asshole."

Once more, he chuckles lightly. "Perhaps." He turns to Raven. "You've been having some interesting developments. How are you, Birthda-"

Raven glares white eyes. "Call me that again, and I might slit your throat." Jinx takes a double take at Raven. _Okay, maybe she really is THAT good at hiding anger._

Slade turns to Robin. "This is hardly the venue for such long talks to come. Surely, there's some. . . preparation."

Robin scowls. He looks at Red X. "Your group stays." Slade nods. Robin nods back. "Star and Beast Boy look after Blackfire. Kid Flash, Jinx, and Terra look after X. Cyborg and I will speak with Slade."

Raven looks at him, confused. "I believe I was to be included with you."

Robin shakes his head. "You have to train." Raven almost argues, but he stops her. "You can't afford to waste a whole day just to be present for this." Robin then glances at Cyborg. "I'd rather speak to Slade one to one, anyway, but you guys didn't think that was a good idea. That's why Cyborg's with me."

Raven nods. She walks to the entrance, passing Slade as the two exchange a heated look. Well, heated from Raven's side. Slade looked amused. Raven's glance shifted to Red X. She quickly felt the emotions of the room.

Slade, whether he'd admit it or not, was actually nervous. That thought tickled her. However, his calm far outweighed it. Red X was delighted. It seems he's just interested in what happens, not any specific outcome. Blackfire seemed to be putting up a front of smug arrogance, but under that she seemed confused and slightly angry. No doubt she still held a grudge on Starfire for the anger, but probably confused by the prospect of all of us on the same side.

She exited as Slade stepped forward. Robin led Slade away, Cyborg trailing behind them.

. . . . .

"So what's this training she's doing?" Blackfire's voice sounded. She floated in the air outside the tower in a sitting position.

Starfire responded in childlike anger, not too intense and blunt. "You are not to be 'in the know.'"

Black rolled her eyes. "I find it amazing that you live here more than me and still can't speak their language normally."

Starfire glares. "I do not mind being different."

A green bird perches on Starfire's shoulder. The head turns into Beast Boy's head. "YEAH! You tell her!" It turns back.

Blackfire looks below, seeing the circle around Raven glow. She looked at Zane, quirking her brow. "And who's he?" She looked up, seeing Star's childish glare and rolling her eyes. "Right. Right. Not my business."

Down below the three fliers, the remaining group sat in silence. Jinx watched Raven. The circle glowed as Raven clenched her teeth and started to show her red eyes. Before it got too far, the glowing stopped as Zane placed his hand on a few of the symbols surrounding the inner circle.

_Each symbol is a different part of her, so the goal is balance. _She watches Zane charge some power into a symbol as he withdrew some from another. _So he's trying to strengthen certain parts of her while weakening others to make everything evenly placed? _"You recognize that stuff?" Kid Flash's voice stopped her observation.

She looked at him, slightly annoyed to be interrupted. "Yes. Well, kind of. I was the only person in the HIVE asides from Kyd Wykkyd who had much, if any, knowledge of this. . . spell and voodoo shit." She rested her chin on her wrist, sitting cross legged. "Though, I had to do it more because if Kyd did, then he wouldn't be able to explain anything to the idiots."

KF smirked. "Someone should put a bell on him." He commented on the new subject. It made Jinx snicker, so his company wasn't awful.

Her snicker disappeared upon seeing black spark around Raven. She seemed to shaken violently with crimson eyes. Zane did something with the circle Jinx couldn't see, the glow receding along with Raven's power. She dropped to her knees and, from what Jinx could see, was almost hyperventilating. Jinx's expression gave away her worry.

. . . . .

Zane pulled up from the circle, sighing heavily. "Okay, this balance didn't work out. We're going to have to start from scratch." He looked down at Raven, who heaved her breath.

"Azarath-" She gasped. "Metrion-" Another gasp. "Zinthos." She repeated until she was under full control. She looked up, still determined. "Again."

Zane nodded. "Alright, let's go around each aspect again. Let's work backwards this time." He placed his hand on the blue symbol. "Calm. You're possibly the most level headed person to live in that tower, but you don't handle emotions well. Let's augment this just slightly." The blue lit as Raven gave a comforted sigh.

"Go on." she spoke like a sage.

He smirked. "Alright. Next is Rage. You're temper is ferocious, but is rare to come forth. Let's augment this just a little also." The red shined dimly just like the blue. Raven sat in a meditation position, but now her muscles tensed. She contained herself, but was close to bursting. Her Calm and Rage seemed nearly even. Good. That's the balance they want. Zane moves to the next. "Rude. Your sarcasm is your biggest social pattern, but even in sarcasm you're always curt and respectful to those who you aren't on such close terms with. We'll augment this about twice as much as Rage or Calm." The orange light shined brighter than the previous two.

Raven's expression scrunched slightly. "Just move the fuck on. I don't need your explaining!" Her Rude aspect made her speak almost like Jinx. Who knew?

Zane sighed. "Patience. Your Calm will have to endure. If it can't, then you're not in balance." He moved to the next. "Next is Timid. You never back down from anything. Even when you give up, you never give in. This one will have to be strong." The gray glowed more prominently than all others.

Raven started to shiver, doing her best to stay. Her Calm aspect was nearing its limit. Keeping her outbursts of Rude in while containing Rage. Now, Timid's fear starts to eat away at her ability to think.

Zane studies her uncomfortable shifting. "Next is Passion. Passion is often the thing that ignites strong feelings, which you avoid. As such, I'll augment it the same as Timid." Purple shined just as bright as the gray.

Raven's eyes opened. Her fear mixed with her passion. She began to feel like she needed something, or someone, to help her. She looked past Zane, locking eyes with Jinx in the distance. Raven's fear began to make her feel alone. As such, her own passion began to increase her fear. She only knew one thing. She had to get out of this circle.

Zane moved on. "Alright now for-" Black broke from the circle. Raven, completely out of control, attempted to rip through an invisible wall around the circle. "Shit!" Zane slammed his energy into the seals, the glows ceasing immediately. Raven's power cut out as she fell to her knees, breathing in and out and shivering out of control. She hugged herself in a way Timid would inside her consciousness.

Raven gathered herself. She punches the ground, angry with herself. How could she let fear control her so easily? It's happened so many times before. When Slade threatened her friends alongside Trigon's demon army. When Blood threatened her friends if she fought back. Hell, even when she refused to admit a damn move scared her. She scowled at nothing in particular. "Again."

Zane took a moment to think. "I know we've tried this before, but we're going to do all your positive emotions first. Let's try Happiness. You rarely, if ever, allow yourself to enjoy pleasures of life, making true happiness hard to obtain. However, you are easily made content. Not a minor change, but not too major." The pink symbol glowed, not much less or more than most the others from before. "How you feeling?"

Raven took one big breath and shut her eyes. A large smile crept onto her face. "Great!" She didn't quite match her Happy emotion, but was definitely going towards sounding that way.

Zane moved to another. "Alright, let's try. . . Passion. Last time, Passion ended up overloading your Timid, so we'll try to have it do the same with Happiness." The purple glowed just as intense as before.

The response was a little. . . Deliza. Raven's eyes opened. Her smile stayed turned slightly coy, her eyes glazing as her eyes once more found Jinx in the background. Let's just say she REALLY wanted Jinx, but could survive.

Zane moved to the green symbol. "Alright! Now, for the Courage to beat fear. You always fight against all odds, but you rarely are able to overcome your own insecurities. This is like Rage and Calm. A slight alteration." The green dully glowed.

Raven's look filled with lust as she hugged herself again for the body part contact. Zane quickly turned red with wide eyes.

"OKAY! Shutting this down." He shut the circle down, causing Raven to snap to attention, shaking away all thoughts and images from her mind. She glared at him, making him sweat drop. ". . . sorry. That one was MY fault."

. . . . .

The door slowly creaked open as three figures move into the room. The room was dimly lit with a square table and two chairs on opposite sides. The one eyed man looks around with a chuckle. "This is all a bit cliché, isn't it?"

Cyborg shuts the door, standing at the entrance with his eyes locked on Slade. Robin walks to one chair, sitting down, eyes deadlocked to the other side. Slade sat opposite Robin, meeting the burning glare with an amused look in his eye. "Well?" Robin started. "You came here to talk, so talk."

Slade's stare was the same as ever. "I have a few conditions upon any agreements made today."

Robin's eye twitched. "Conditions? You came here to ask to cooperate. From what I see, we don't need your help now. I'm waiting for a reason we would accept and help from _you._" He spat the you.

Slade pretended to put his hand to his chin in thought. "Well, considering I know the location of Blood. I know his resources. I know his defenses." He then looked back at Robin. "And you did such a splendid job against him, didn't you? Needing to be saved by someone new. Blood's connections with this new demon make this a difficult situation for you. Obviously, you wish to take him down sooner rather than later, but without me, you won't get much headway anytime soon. Not until HE attacks YOU."

Robin scowled. "Regardless. We're in the position of power against Blood. Plus, even if Blood still has more up his sleeve, I doubt we're anywhere near desperate to go to you for the help."

Robin could tell. Somehow, he could tell Slade was smiling behind that mask. "Robin, you wouldn't be so reckless with protecting this city that you'd prolong catching a criminal just because of a few past grievances. Would you?"

Robin leaned forward on his elbows, hands clenched together in front of his chin. His clench tightened in anger. Slade was right. It WOULD be irresponsible to let people get hurt over a grudge. However, it would also be irresponsible to rush into an agreement with someone like Slade. If Robin was going to agree to this. . . he would need answers. He'd need leverage. Something to guarantee safety. "I want answers."

Slade crossed his arms, a strange mix of relaxation and alertness in his position. "You always do Robin. Ask away."

Robin replayed the voice in his head. _"I do love my job." "Sorry to disappoint you, Robin. But I'm not here to fight. I'm here to help." _Robin chose his words. "What exactly was your main objective in challenging the Titans in the first place?"

"Come, Robin. You're smarter than that. Figure it out."

Robin stared at the cyclops. "You're an expert fighter and mercenary. You love your work, and as you clearly showed while working for Trigon, you love on hand work." Slade nodded. "You're line of work is hired work. You also didn't have any of the resources in the past before attacking us." Slade once again nodded. Robin showed confusion. "You also refrained from ever killing us when you were in power, and even more confusing is that, in all your attacks and thefts, you never caused a single death. Even when your robotic commandos overran the city, no one died."

Cyborg was clearly confused. He looked at Slade, who waited for Robin to continue.

Robin's eyes widened slightly. "You can't. . . You . . ." Slade nodded. ". . .were hired to fight us?"

. . . . .

A loud roar filled the air as Raven's black power was once again quelled by the circle. She fell over, sweating all over. She slowly tried to get up before Zane helped her. "Okay, little bird. You need a break."

She panted out her response. "I can. . . keep going. . . and don't give me nicknames, dog."

He started helping her towards the watching masses. "Too bad." They got to the group. He cracked a smirk at her. "Besides, you're the half breed mutt here." She glares at him, making him chuckle.

Raven rolls her eyes. "You really want to start this?"

Beast Boy spoke as he landed, turning into a human form. "It would probably be funny to see." He said, trying to join the conversation.

Raven and Zane both looked at him, the exact same expression and tone of voice. "Shut up, Beast Boy." The two then shared a glance before Raven sat down to rest.

Star and Blackfire both float down. Star keeps a small distance from Blackfire before asking her question. "You are making progress, yes?"

Raven looks at Zane. "Don't know. Am I?"

"Yes, slowly. We need to find the perfect balance, and we're getting close. We just need to get the balance first. The circle can be used for her to enter her other form. Then, she needs to memorize the feeling enough to be able to recreate it at will." He explained. "At least partially."

Blackfire commented. "Meaning she needs a sterile environment." She seemed smirk. "So can we go some place else. This sitting around is rather boring."

Star half glared at her sister. Jinx, surprisingly, agreed. "Yeah. Sitting around is making me feel useless." She throws a worried glance at Raven before looking at Red X. "Got any ideas? You usually always know where to go."

Beast Boy, being the odd one out here in more ways than one, asked. "You two hang out together? What, do you date or something?"

X, Jinx, Terra, and Star all sneak a glance at Raven, whose eyes briefly turned red. Jinx flicked a hex into BB's nose before he saw Raven's glare, making a large red mark as he rubbed it. This earned a heated stare from Terra. "No, he just likes to butt in on my business." She looked at X, who she could swear was smiling under his mask. "So, how about it?"

. . . . .

"SAY WHAT?!" Cyborg shrieked. He stepped towards Robin. "No. Uh uh. No way, this guy was-"

Slade answered. "Correct." Cy stopped in his tracks, mouth hanging. Robin straightened up. Slade anticipated the next question. "Now, lets see if you can figure out who funded me and why."

Robin narrowed his eyes. He remembered Slade's words. _"I might even become like a father to you." Robin responded. "I already have a father." _Robin's eyes couldn't narrow any further. "Why?"

Slade chuckled. "you're going to have to be more specif-"

"Why did THEY fund you?" Robin spat. Cyborg was openly confused.

Slade leaned back. "You're the next generation of heroes, boy wonder. What can better prepare you than a challenge."

Robin seethed. Cyborg could visibly see how angry his leader was. "Man. . . what is he talking about?"

The phrases replayed in his mind.

_Time won't wait forever; You can't run away from who you are! _

_Tick-tock, Raven. Time is running out. _

_Silly girl. I'm not the one to be afraid of. _

_It's the end of the world. Did you think it would be easy? I don't expect you to win. I don't even expect you to live - only endure._

_Patience. Trust is easy to destroy, but it takes time to build._

Robin smacked his fist into the table. "That's why you backtalk. Spit out phrases of wisdom and advice for us to follow, purposefully making us stronger with each threat you posed. That's why Batman never mentioned your existence to me. It would be too easy."

Cyborg finally insisted. "Who is 'THEY'?"

Robin stood up, gripping Slade and raising his fist. Slade made no move whatsoever. Robin said slowly. "Slade, please tell me the Justice League didn't hire you to test us!"

Slade didn't flinch or move. "No." Robin seemed to relax slightly. "Just Batman."

Robin threw his hardest punch, but Slade caught the punch, knuckles cracking as he tightened his grip. Cyborg turns on his sonic cannon, having it already aimed at Slade's head.

Slade looked between the two. "Had this confrontation occurred when your team first formed." He looked at Robin. "I would have simply been able to toss you over my shoulder and take the two of you down single handed like nothing." He then looked at Cyborg. "Because in comparison to the league, that's what you were. . . nothing."

His words made Robin ease himself as he pulled away from Slade. "And we wouldn't have been strong enough for Trigon, nor would we be as strong as we are now. . ."

Slade nodded. You could feel the smile behind his mask. "You passed with flying colors. Even I didn't expect to die in the process."

. . . . .

Terra looked up at the ancient structures. Star floated by Terra. "Um, I do not think Raven would appreciate our coming here."

Blackfire shrugged. "She doesn't have to know." She floats forward, Star sticking close. Blackfire turned to her and sighed. "Are you sticking by me out of mistrust or fear?"

Star sweat dropped. She looked away with a nervous smile. "both."

Beast Boy cringed as he turned into a hound, sniffing the ground and leading the way. Terra walked by him, petting him every time he shivers.

Kid Flash looks at the ruined walls and architecture. "So, what happened here?"

"Long story, apparently." Jinx answered. She looked at Red X. "Okay, you brought us here. What are we looking for?"

X nodded. "According to Slade's findings, there's two specific items in this ruin, separated underground. They have to do with Trigon, though he didn't say, or know even, what they did."

Terra finally said something, though it was pretty robotic. "So we're looking for any location the Titan's haven't already been?" She nodded to BB, who in dog form gave her a worried look. "I'm fine, Beast Boy." The green dog began sniffing out ahead of the group.

KF tilted his head. "I could search out the whole place."

Starfire flinched. "No, that is okay! We do not need armies of ghost creeps attacking, please!"

Blackfire quirks an eyebrow at her. ". . . This place is weird."

. . . . .

Robin and Slade once more sat opposite each other. Robin scowled while Slade sat back. The silence was deafening as Cyborg looked between the two. Robin then asked from the blue. "Why an apprentice?" Cy looked up, curious as well.

Slade responded. "What better way to test character than to go to an extreme? Though, I actually wished you would have failed that part. I really did want a decent apprentice."

Robin nodded. "Plus having lost a family can make someone want a replacement."

Slade chuckled. "Maybe so. Though, Terra was not part of the original deal to challenge you five. I went a little off the cuff with that her." Robin's scowl was his answer.

"Guess it's fitting that that's what got you killed." Robin replies.

"Oh Robin, your stab at pragmatism is, well, adorable. So, now that you know my job is done, and there's little to no chance of me betraying you. . . Shall we start making conditions?"

Robin glared. "Anything involving out members is off limits."

"Of course. In fact, I only have one true condition." Slade said, sagely. "No tricks. No deceptions. No strings attached."

Robin narrowed his gaze. "Go ahead."

Slade's mood turned grim. He looked Robin dead in the eyes. "When this is over. . . when your. . . friends are back to normal. . . when all is well again. . ." His voice dropped. "Blood's head is going to be in my hands."

Robin fell silent. Cyborg spoke up. "Whoa! We don't do executions. We aren't killers."

Slade responded. "And that record won't be tarnished in the slightest. However, Blood and myself have to finish what's been started. This is business. . . and maybe some pleasure."

Robin's scowl intensified. "Blood has now caused vast deaths, along with giving himself to demons. He leads a cult that lives for causing more deaths. When he was locked up in Steel City, he was BARELY able to get a life sentence, avoiding the death penalty, due to his contribution to making new villains with his school."

Cyborg's face fell. "Meaning that anything else he's done now WILL get the death penalty."

Robin looked up at Slade. ". . . . . . . . . . Deal."

. . . . .

"So, Terra." Jinx started. "What's been bugging ya?"

Terra looked back, emotionless. "What do you mean?"

Jinx continued to walk as she talked. "Ever since we saw Slade enter the tower, you've been more of a robot than Cyborg."

Terra sighed. She watched the ground as the stepped forward. "It's. . . weird. I mean, I KILLED him, and he's just up and around like it's nothing." She then scowled. "And all the things he twisted my head up to do. I. . . keep wishing that he was still dead." Jinx widens her eyes there. "Then I keep putting myself down for allowing myself to think that."

Jinx nodded. "Just like with Raven. You were forced to kill, and in a way, it changes you. Now, you're looking at the guy you wiped from this planet in the face. Scary stuff."

Terra nodded with her. "I don't exactly know how to deal with it."

Jinx looked ahead to Red X. "He's the one that gave me advice when I almost gave into some temptations. I wouldn't recommend asking him for help, but you have the other Titans." Jinx offered a smile.

Terra smiles slightly. "True."

"Guys!" Beast Boy calls. The group runs to him, coming into an open room. The room was large. VERY large. The entire center was a crater. "Dude, I don't even know what happened here."

Blackfire looked over the crater. "The rock is too smooth. That crater isn't the result of a fight or regular damage."

Red X nodded. "That's not good."

Beast Boy pales. "Dudes. . . I smell Blood."

Star shivers. "Who would hide a body down here?"

Beast Boy shook his head. He sniffs a bit. "No, Brother Blood. His scent is here. Faint, but it's there."

Red X pulls out a device, pulling up a scanner. He releases a sigh. "Looks like the good Brother beat us to it."

Kid Flash asks. "Um, that's not good is it?"

. . . . .

_**GNN NEWS: Lori Prince Live.**_

Oh, the good old gray haired news anchor appeared. Smiles appeared as he started. "Good evening and welcome to Lori Prince Live. Tonight's subject: The Next Generation. Heroes exist, but just like us, they grow old, and must pass on their titles. Will the heroes of tomorrow be up to snuff?" He looks over. "Tonight is a special edition as I interview various individuals across the country by satellite phone about you, the people's, thoughts on our new heroes of tomorrow, the Titans. My first guest today is the lovely miss Marie Logan, Wildlife preservationist. You coming through, Ms Logan?"

The voice of a woman came in. "Of course."

"Miss Logan, do you, as a citizen, feel safe when it comes to the Teen Titans?"

"Of course!" The voice sounded semi rude. "They save lives. What better prove do you need?"

Lori nodded. "Do you feel that any of them are more trustworthy than others?"

"I trust Beast Boy the most." The wildlife expert stated. "I spend my life protecting the lives of animals, and it's obvious that he understands an animal's plight. If he fights hard for them, he'll fight even harder for the people." She sounded almost proud.

"And are there any that you feel you don't trust?"

Miss Logan gave an audible um as she thought. "Honestly, Robin and Raven are the sketchiest to me. I mean, Starfire is an alien, and Cyborg is altered for his whole life. When we see them, we SEE them. They don't hide because they can't. As such, we know what we're dealing with for them, but the other two? Hiding under masks and hoods and staying in the shadows? I don't see how anyone can trust them."

Lori nodded. "Thank you for your opinion miss Logan. Keep on protecting the bunnies." Logan's phone hang up as Lori looked up. "And here we have our first mystery caller. Hello, caller, you are on the air."

A creepy voice came in. . . one that Lori recognized. "Hello, Lori, how are you doing?"

Lori's eyes widened slightly. "Mister Joker, I thought you were in jail."

The voice laughed. "They did offer me my one phone call."

Lori didn't question it, grunting. "What do you want?"

The Joker sounded offended. "I just want to offer my take on the issue. Is that a crime?"

Lori responds plainly. "No, but everything else you've done is."

"Lori. . . that hurts."

Lori sighs. "Okay, what are your thoughts?"

"My opinion is, if people bleed for you, they're obviously taking life WAY too seriously. Why so serious? They should let loose, blow up a car or a cat, and let out some chuckles!"

Lori's eyes widened. "Can we cut the connection?"

The Joker laughed. "Nice try Lori, but I rigged an explosive to the bottom of your seat last time I was there. If the connection cuts off, so do you. . ."

Lori's eyes widened further as he put a fake smile. "Well, welcome to the 24 hours Lori Prince Marathon. . ."

. . . . .

Raven stood in the circle, completely tranquil. Zane began. "Calm. Complete tranquility." Raven breathed in and out calmly. Complete silent meditation. The blue symbol glowed.

Zane continues. "Happiness." Pink glows, Raven gaining a slight smile in her meditative state.

"Courage. Face what will come." The green symbol glows. Raven's calm smile turns into a confident smirk.

"Timidity. Temper your courage and keep yourself in check." Raven's smirk calmed as the gray started.

"Knowledge. Know what must be done. Rude, don't let others distract you." Yellow and orange symbols glow. Raven's smile was gone. She was having trouble staying calm.

"Passion. Remember what you fight for to drive you further." Purple glows. Raven's smile returns as she pictures her friends in her mind. She includes everyone. Even her two new siblings and a certain pink haired girl. However, she felt like she was about to burst. Her power flowed around her, but she kept it from blasting outward.

Zane finishes. "Rage. Have the power to finish what you start. A driving force necessary to bring change." The red symbol glows as finally, all eight symbols are lit around the circle. Raven's smile contorts into a sneer. She clenches her teeth as the power courses around her.

Zane steps back as the power erupts out from Raven. The circle glows white as Raven opens her eyes. She begins to grunt, her eyes turning red. Her power erupts. Zane sighs, not affected by the outburst in energy. "Another failure." He lowers his hand to deactivate to circle, until Raven calls out.

"NO!" Zane looks up, seeing more power coming from Raven. Instead of four red eyes, she only had two. The red eyes flashed white. They began to flicker between the glows. Zane's eyes widened.

"Interesting. . ." He began to use his senses, feeling the power radiating from Raven. He got a wide smile. "VERY interesting."

Raven began to roar out in power. Her cloak flashed white for a millisecond. Her black soul self energy starts flashing white and black between the powers. Raven's eyes turn full white and stay. Her cloak once again turns white, holding for a full second before her power erupts out. White energy blasts out, then turns black. Zane covers himself with his power to block the explosion. His eyes widened from the burst. _She really is strong deep down. . . amazing. _From the debris, he sees Raven, hunched over on all fours. Her cloak is blue again and she gasps for breath.

She tries to get up before seeing Zane's hand held out to her. He smirks. "Good. The easy part is pretty much over." Her eyes show her feeling.

She mutters. "Great. . ."


	17. Chapter 17

_Her eyes finally fell one a small family. Two parents played with their son under the shade of a tree. Raven couldn't help but draw a blank at this one. She studied the three, taking in the concerned looks from the mother when the child tripped to the laughing of the father at the son's muddy face. It was something she couldn't understand. Something she never knew and, thus, could never relate to. _

_Raven's eyes still locked on the family. She saw the son be picked up by the father, taking a seat on the man's shoulders. The wife smiled as she moved in and kissed her husband. _

_That did it. Outside of her control, a black spark of Raven's power came out, unnoticed by any of the park goers. The wall above her cracks. . ._

_There was a high pitched 'WAH!' as the blonde landed on the brunette with a shaking thud. Both girls rubbed their heads as they both snapped up. "I'm sorry!" Both said in unison. . . ._

"_Jen." The brunette tilted her head with a 'what?' look. The blonde rolled her eyes. "My name? Short for Jennifer?"_

_Memories continued to play surrounding a blonde, turned pink, girl._

Her eyes fluttered open. Light glared at her vision, taking a second to adjust. Her face faced the window towards the sun rise. She had a smile on her face. _That. . . wasn't such a bad dream. _She yawned as she shifted, stretching to get up before her empathy detected. . . pure uncontrolled curiosity. Raven jolted up, looking to the corner of the bed to see, yep, Jinx reading one of the books from Raven's shelf. "Jinx?! What are you doing in my room?"

Jinx only just now noticed the empath's awakening. She jumped from the sudden voice, but turned to Raven with a smile. "What? I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't sleep."

Raven's eye twitched. She should really be going 'ham Raven' and tossing Jinx out of the room like a boss, but, nonetheless, she played along. "We have dozens of games, movies, and tv stations to use. . . yet you break into my room to read my-" Her eyes caught the book title, _Physiology of Demons. _Raven's eyes widened. "Hell no. Put that back!"

Jinx simply looked back, quirking her eyebrow in genuine confusion. "Why? I mean, if we're dating, isn't there some things I should know?" Okay, MOSTLY genuine confusion. The rest of her look was implying something. Something Raven caught and didn't acknowledge.

Raven tinted a slight red. "Curiosity kills cats, you know."

Jinx looks back to the book with a snicker. "Well, according to this, there's several things I need to know before 'gettin' down' with you or anything."

Raven face palmed. Scratch that. She looks up from the pale for a single second before following with a double face palm. "There's no winning with you, is there?"

Jinx smiled sweetly. "Nope."

Raven looked up, looking about as happy as someone who lived through a train wreck. . . on a boat. "What am I going to do with you, Jennifer?"

Jinx was taken back by that. She didn't know how to feel about that. "You. . . used my other name." _Why did it feel nice when she did? _

Raven noticed too.She tinted red slightly. "Uh. . . well, you still use Rachael sometimes."

It was Jinx's turn to tint a little, looking away. "Yeah. . . I'm just now noticing. Sorry."

Raven smiled slightly. "Don't be. It's . . . nice." There was a small silence until Raven noticed again. ". . . now put my book back!"

. . . . .

How to put this gently? ZANE WAS NOT AMUSED! "You said. . . it was gone." The red head glared at the green boy.

Beast Boy sweat dropped. "You didn't say anything about it, so what's the deal?"

Zane's eye twitched, sitting on the main couch. "I didn't mention it because it hadn't come up. I didn't expect Blood to take it."

Cyborg, making breakfast, piped in. "Man, what's he talking about?" 

Beast Boy called over. "The missing hunk of ruin over in the big scary library place of Scath. Red X lead us there because he was informed about the location, but not what the missing piece did." Beast Boy once more took out his White Board of Possibilities. He flipped it over to reveal a chibi Brother Blood drawing with Harry Potter glasses and scar. "Obviously, Brother Blood is going to use demonic super evil forbidden magic to infuse his remaining soldiers with deadly warriors from the underworld." He flips it over again to show chibi Titans East, except all are red and part ape. "Only answer: Demon Monkeys East!"

The room falls silent. Zane turned to Cyborg, a look of pure astonishment while pointing to Beast Boy. "He should never have a white board."

Cyborg sighs. "I don't know how, but he keeps finding where I hide it."

Beast crosses his arms in a huff. "Well, if I'm wrong, then tell us what it is?" He then widens his eyes. "Right. . . demons. Nevermind, I don't really want to know."

Zane sighs in frustration. "You said Red X was told about that AND a jewel, right? Was the jewel there?" Beast Boy shook his head. Zane nearly pulled hair off his head. "God damn it!"

Terra entered with Starfire, who floated ahead to greet everyone. "Morning of joys, friends. Surely, Zane knows what Blood's plan is with the ruin of badness."

He mutters. "Not a clue." Everyone pales slightly. "I know the original use of it. A use for which Blood has no physically possible way of using, so in all honesty, he has no reason to take it OR the jewel." He glares at the green teen again. "You're SURE it was his scent and not someone else?"

Beast Boy scrunched his nose. "I couldn't forget his old stench if I tried, and I have."

Cyborg opened his mouth to retort BB, but Terra instead said. "Funny, considering you usually forget everything."

BB looks betrayed. "Terra, why?"

Terra points her thumb at Cyborg while looking apologetic. "You KNOW he was going to say it, so I figured it would hurt less from me." The response got Beast Boy staring at her with hearts for eyes.

Zane pursed his lips. ". . . back on topic. OH! Robin's coming in." Robin walks in right on cue.

Cyborg widens his eyes. "Wha-? How did you do that?"

Zane smirks. "Life force sense. Asides from you, he emits to weakest life signs in this tower despite his ability to kick ass. . . well, your all's asses." He ended that smugly. He then looked at Robin seriously. "When are you guys going to work with Slade?"

Robin scowled slightly. "We strike tomorrow morning."

Zane looks down in thought. "One day. . . not much time." He looks up. "Where that speed guy-" He cuts himself off, sensing. "There he is." Kid Flash speeds into the room, handing a grocery bag to Cyborg.

Kid Flash salutes with a slight frown. "Speedy delivery boy, at your service."

Cyborg thanks him as Raven and Jinx enter the room together. It was funny at this point since the only people who didn't know about them was Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Kid Flash. Zane smirked, then turned serious. "Alright, everyone's here. You want to know what it was that Blood took?" Jinx and Raven immediately took the mood in.

Robin nodded. "What's this. . . ritual circle you said was the missing ruin."

Zane answered with no hesitation. "It's actually a pretty standard circle. The type of magic can have any number of slots, but this one only has seven. Every location of importance to Trigon, the Church of Blood, and anything ruled under the identity of Scath has one. It's just always hidden well."

Raven asks. "What does the circle do?"

Zane smirks. "It's got its uses. The primary one is that it will take the essence, their life force and energy, from up to seven people to gather into an object in the middle."

Raven immediately recognized that. _"We're going to resurrect Trigon's power and place it within your body. Then, you will kill Azerall." Raven had asked about the possibility of Trigon reviving. "Can and will. Each of us contain one of his aspects, a sin. Whenever one of us dies, that aspect is released from us." He looks her in the eye. "You, Deliza, and I are the only ones alive, and once we die, our aspects will reunite with those of our other siblings. Trigon will resurrect." _

Raven piped in. "You explained this. The circle is meant to combine the seven essences of Trigon's children to resurrect Trigon himself." Everyone fell silent.

Robin nodded. "That's why it's impossible for him to have that use in mind. He must have another plan then. Maybe modify the circle to sacrifice people for Azerall's arrival like he originally planned?"

Zane thought about it. ". . . No, he would've done that before he attacked you guys if that was the case."

Terra asked. "What about this gemstone or whatever."

He sighed. "The circle itself doesn't call the essences of his children. The gem calls them, then the circle is used to sacrifice them. Then, the essences draw into the gem, and that morphs into Trigon's new body if I understand it correctly."

Robin scowled. "Which means he plans on doing something with the essences." A small pressure was felt by everyone in the room, looking at Zane. His four red crimson eyes showed. "That bastard. . ." He calms, the four eyes replaced by his two orange eyes. He looks at Raven. "Well, you have one day to finish your training."

She did a double take. "Wait, but I JUST managed to turn into 'White Raven' at will. It was only for a few seconds, too."

Zane nodded. "Should be a good challenge." He looked over to Jinx. "Could I borrow you, too?"

Jinx was blank a moment. "What can I do for your magic voodoo demon stuff?" He only smiles back, which worried her. "You're not going to tell me, are you?"

"It's better as a surprise." He chimes. He looks over to Robin. "Can I borrow her? Or do you have need of her?"

Robin shook his head. "Kid Flash and I are going to check some leads. Cyborg is still repairing some of the tower's systems from Blood's attack. Star, Beast Boy, and Terra can cover the city for patrols since they all fly."

Jinx's brows knit together. "It's not like I need your permission. I'm no Titan."

They ignored her. Zane walked from the room gesturing Raven and Jinx who followed.

. . . . .

The two girls stood a few feet apart side by side, watching the guy further adjust the magic circle from the day before. The glowing symbols shined as he stepped up, appraising it. Something in the orange symbol catches his interest as he moves over to it.

As he adjusts it as the two girls glance at each other, each raising an eyebrow. He suddenly bolts up, looking at Raven with a dull glare. "Memorize this circle as it is."

"What?" She tilts her head.

He points to the circle. "Memorize the formula and everything you see. You'll need to be able to recreate it on a whim. Even if it's just etching it into the ground with your powers, it'll work. You don't have time to memorize the emotional feeling to change forms. If you memorize the circle, you can simply recreate and activate it whenever you need 'White Raven'."

She looks at him, unsure, but nods. She moves to the circle to start taking in the details.

He looks at Jinx a moment, before back to Raven. "Just to recap. Your demonic and human aspects, as well as all your emotions, are separate, but exist in harmony. Correct?"

Raven looks at Jinx for a second. He was making sure Jinx knew. Jinx narrowed her eyes. "Give me more credit than that. You don't need her to explain it for my sake."

He switched his stare to Jinx, which made her a little uncomfortable. A strange mix of irritation and boredom. Maybe the boredom was an act to cover up anxiety? He sighed. "Alright then. Jinx, state your powers and abilities."

Jinx blinked a couple times in slight surprise. "Bad luck." She states simply.

His shoulders slumped slightly. "Bad luck alone doesn't instantly throw people thirty yards away. More detail, please."

She pursed her lips at his tone, slightly rude, but she kept her comments shut. Raven looked over Zane, feeling a good deal of dread and slight fear off of him. Jinx summarized. "My powers manifest as slightly electrical pulsing hexes. Upon hitting the target, depending how much power I put in, I can get a result that's akin to 'bad luck'. I hit a machine, and it breaks. I can control exactly how it breaks, and can even do it to people."

Zane nods, his voice dropping. "Like when you shut off all my organs. . ." His stare lost any emotion for that. Complete deadpan.

She sweat dropped, chuckling slightly. "Hey, you were the one wrecking shit."

He gave a small smirk. "Okay then. How much control do you have exactly?"

She thought about it, looking up as if to an invisible thought bubble. "Hmmmm. . . I guess what I did to you was the farthest I've taken it. Able to affect the body to all its functions and even the nervous system. Able to affect complex machinery to the point that it fails exactly how I need it to."

He nodded. "Have you ever tried it on someone else's powers?"

Both Raven and Jinx's eyes widened as the two shared a panicked glance. "Whoa, whoa, hold on. What the hell are you asking?"

Raven chimed in, a little worried. "Same question."

Zane sighs. "Raven, you already know the end result of this training. To be able to separate your demonic and humane aspects. Something that requires an insane amount of control on your part to do yourself. We simply don't have time for that." He looks at Raven. "Ordinarily, those aspects are in harmony. They cross over with each other whenever you use demonic power, but ultimately, they're separate while still being stable. That's part of being a half breed. You're a perfect balanced mix." He then looks at Jinx. "In layman's terms, Jinx is going to take that balanced mix and imbalance the fuck out of it."

Raven's eyes widened further, almost bugging out. "You intend to make the separation chaotically, rather than tranquilly."

Jinx starts to worry. "wait, I don't- I mean. What will happen?"

Zane looks at her again. "It SHOULD cause her aspects to separate, albeit temporarily." 

Jinx and Raven both fill with dread. ". . . should." Both say in unison.

"Truth is, I don't exactly know. This is purely a guess, but if everything's going to go down tomorrow, this is all we got."

Jinx cringed. "Wait, why don't you just go in and go ham on a bitch?"

Zane looked down, irritated. "You're forgetting that the demon we may end up facing has already tossed me around like a filly hooker before."

Raven asked. "This is something that neither she, nor I, have done before. I don't think-" He holds up a hand to silence Raven.

"I know. She needs someone to practice on." He focuses on Raven. "You're going to link yourself with her, as you've done with people like Robin, to help her with her control."

Jinx took a deep breath, but it hardly calmed her. "But. . . who am I going to practice with? I doubt I can separate Cyborg's human and robotic parts. That might kill him. Maybe Beast Boy?"

"Me." He says simply. Raven starts to catch on. The feeling of worry and anxiety in Zane sky rockets as he calms and states. "You're going to separate 'Zane' from 'Wolf'."

Raven gasps slightly, while Jinx just tilts her head. "Okay. . . I'm feeling out of the loop."

. . . . .

Screams of an elder woman sounded. Crowds ran out from stores within the mall. A child's yell was heard before the mother found her son. The small boy stared blankly at her mother as several people gathered around the mother like zombies.

Behind them all, a man of wood, a puppet stood. "Do not be afraid. Just accept that you will all be with me soon." He held up several small dolls, all of which screamed, containing the souls of those he now controlled. "All will hail the Puppet-"

A large green bear lands on top of him, planting him into the ground and sitting on him. The bear looked to a remote on the ground, sniffing it before stomping on it. The green bear watched the people get control of their own bodies again before he turned back to Beast Boy. He nudged the now motionless puppet on the ground. "Kinda seeing why Blood didn't even bother with you."

"Beast Boy!" The green teen turned to see Star and Terra land. Terra looked disappointed. "We're late."

Star saw the people checking themselves over. "They are all within their own bodies?"

BB shrugged. "We'll hear about it if they didn't." He then gave a huge smile. "Check this out!" He revealed a series of strings tied to the Puppet King, making him an actual puppet as Beast Boy made him walk to Terra. "Maybe I can be the next Jeff Dunham?"

Terra chuckled. "You'd probably be funnier."

Star giggled before taking the puppet. "I will take him." She flies away, taking the puppet to prison.

Terra didn't notice as BB slid into place beside her. "So, just the two of us."

Terra smirked, crushing his dreams. "If Star's taking the guy to prison, that gives me the North half of the city. You get the South."

Beast Boy slumped. "DUDE!" He then looked like a thought occurred, something rare for the green titan. "You know? Speaking of just two. Have you noticed Raven hanging around with Jinx?"

Terra choked on air and stumbled a moment, but BB's too dense to notice. "Nope! Haven't noticed at all!"

Beast Boy put his hand to his chin in thought. "In fact, Jinx has yet to leave the tower. Of course, she's going to get along with Cy. She's also gotten along with all of us, but I've seen her around Raven the most."

Terra thought quickly. Raven would KILL her if she somehow allowed BEAST BOY to deduce that they were a couple. "Maybe you're imagining things-"

He kept going. "It's not that I'd be opposed to that. With Kid Flash hanging around, maybe we could have eight members? We could finally have an even number of guys and girls for sports and stuff!" He said excited. Terra sighed, hoping Beast Boy was taking a different line of thinking- "Plus, we'd have enough for everyone to have a couple."

Terra nearly trips over nothing. "What?"

Beast Boy smiles. "YEAH! Star and Robin. Me and you. Jinx and Kid Flash. Rav. . . . right Cyborg has Bumblebee. That doesn't work." He frowns.

Terra dead pans. "I don't see why-"

"Or maybe Raven will get Kid Flash, and Jinx will go back to crime?" He frowned. "But then I wouldn't be able to get her back for the whipped cream thing."

Terra chuckled, knowingly. "I don't see that happening."

Beast Boy snapped his fingers. A light bulb seemed to go off over his head. "I GOT IT! I know what's going on with Raven and Jinx!"

Terra paled. "I-I'm telling you, you're imagining things."

Beast Boy accused. "They're going to team up against me!"

". . . . . . . . . Huh?"

Beast Boy rambled. "Raven's going to keep making fun of me while Jinx makes sure any pranks I do fail. Then she'll do more against me, and I'll be completely beaten." He got a full game face on. "Me and Cyborg have some planning to do."

Terra sweat dropped. "I don't see how them dating puts them both against you." . . . . . . . . . She just realized what she said. . . . . . and of course, that's the time Beast Boy chose to listen. Terra, mouth still open in a panicked smile, goes bug eyed.

Beast Boy's eyes shoot to saucer size, mouth gaping open and staring at Terra. The two stood in utter silence, eyes locked.

Terra had a single thought. _Oh my god. . . Raven might ACTUALLY stab me for this. _

. . . . .

Pink sparked into a red sphere of pure demonic power before the energies destabilized. The power explodes outward as a pink hex launches the red headed demon off the shore, into the water.

Jinx, with Raven floating behind her in a meditation position, frowned. "Damn it! So close."

Raven seemed impressed. "This is going much better than I could've hoped." She smiles. "You're doing good."

Jinx smiles back. "I AM flawless, but having good help doesn't hurt."

Raven rolled her eyes, still smiling. The red head in his blue and black assassins jacket crawls from the water. "Yeah. . . totally flawless." He drones. His voice sounding completely hoarse and gasping for air.

Jinx scratches the back of her head. "Sorry, what did I do this time?"

He gasps with a big breath. His hoarse voice speaks. "Pretty sure you collapsed my right lung." He looked to his sister. "Heals."

Raven floats over, her black energy encasing his chest as he takes a soothing inhale then exhale. His voice returns to normal, still slightly tired. "Much better. . . Okay, let's go for take 16."

Raven looks up, seeing the three flyers returning. They went directly to the tower, as expected, but. . . "What's wrong?" Jinx asks.

Raven shrugs. "Can't help thinking tonight's going to be awful."

Jinx smirks. "You have me."

Raven narrows her eyes. "Not sure if that's a good thing."

Zane snaps his fingers to get their attention. "Girls, gossip time is for your 'girl talk', not now." 

Raven dryly replies. "I don't gossip."

He replies in equal tone. "And I don't care what you call it." He smirked when she had no reply.

. . . . .

_Let's see. Include the information from the class in the security programs. Link them together with a function. Call the-_

A loud annoying voice shrieked. "CYYYYYY!"

_Although this leaves a small hole in the program that can be exploited._

"I HAVE BIG NEWS!" The voice said closer.

_Guess I'll have to- _The metal teen was jolted slightly as the green teen came from nowhere, shaking him. Cyborg wheeled around. "WHAT?!"

"DUDE!" Beast boy screamed. "It's Rav-" A blob of mud smacks onto his mouth and hardens, clamping it shut.

Terra comes in with a larger than necessary smile. "Hey, Cy. Just stopping Beast Boy from doing another prank."

Beast Boy pulls at the rocky clamp on his mouth before he remembers, he has powers too! He changes to a bird, the rock falling to the ground before BB turned back to normal. "Raven is dating-"

Terra's foot connects with BB's face, launching him out of the room. A move learned from Slade, no doubt. She smiles at Cy again. "See? Look at him spreading rumors." She's noticeably sweating at this point.

Cyborg raises his one eyebrow. "So? She's been having late nights out for a while. I thought she was dating someone for a while now. As long as it isn't a dragon, I don't care."

Terra sweat. "Well. . . you don't have to worry bout' that."

Beast Boy came back in. "But she's dating Jin-" The rock clamp from before grabs his arm, carrying him down the hall.

"-Jenkins!" Terra says in a panicked and over acting voice. "That swell guy from the book store! Yeah!" Beast Boy came back in as a gorilla, tossing Terra out the door and shutting it.

He changes to normal. "She's dating-" Terra hits the door open and tackles Beast Boy in a rather compromising position.

Cyborg, smile wider than ever, ends the game. "Jinx. I already know."

White as a sheet. Both younger teens stare wide eyed. "But how?" They say in unison.

Cyborg glares. "You didn't think BB would find out before me, did you?" He gets onto the computer. "Plus, tower security cameras. I found out just a while ago. Haven't confronted her about it, yet."

The screen lit with a video feed from a hallway camera. The feed quickly showed Raven and Jinx in the hall, clearly arguing.

_Jinx scowls. "You know I'm right. Why don't you just let me in? It seems that nearly every time we talk, I learn something else I didn't know about you. That's not always a bad thing, but it only proves that I don't know everything."_

Raven stops. "No one does."

"Your girlfriend should." Jinx says softly. 

_Raven quickly jolts stiff. Her hooded head checking the different directions. _

_Jinx sighs. "Relax. Apparently, bird boy knows already and has for a while." Raven seemed to freeze in thought, but was slightly more relaxed._

"Awww." Terra lets out. Beast Boy just freezes, turning pale green.

Cyborg shrugs. "Yeah. I talked to Robin over the communicator to confirm it."

Beast Boy was now upset. "Why am I the last to find out?!"

Cyborg and Terra both give him a 'really?' look. He smiles back. The door opens as Starfire enters, just getting back from her patrol. "Friends, the city is safe." She looks around, sensing the mood.

Beast Boy looks at at Star accusing. "Did you know?!"

Star blinks a few times, seeing the paused feed. She then sees Cyborg's curious look and Terra's apologetic frown. Star directs her response to Terra. Weirdly, her tone was matter of fact, still not negative or positive. "Raven is going to stab us, yes?"

. . . . .

Once more, the energies clashed in a single explosion, launching Zane into a large rock by the beach and embedding him into it. ". . . ow. . ."

Raven appeared next to him. "What needs healed?" 

Zane got up before wobbling. "I. . . don't know. I feel weird after that one." He stands steady, looking himself over. "I feel fine but. . ." He quickly channeled his power and extended his hand out. However, nothing happened. He grit his teeth as he threw his hand forward again. However, nothing occurred. He took a deep breath before orange energy engulfed several rocks, much like Raven's black energy would. He let the rocks drop, snapping his eyes open with a smile. "It's working!"

Jinx ran to him, excited. "Really?"

He looked at his hand. "You shut down my powers, but everything I inherited from Zane is still there." He looked at the two, suddenly losing his smile. "Which means we now have to push it higher. . . Just don't kill me."

Jinx huffed. "Have some faith."

He chuckled. "Sorry, faith isn't for me. Angels are assholes." The two girls looked wide eyed at him.

Raven shook her head. "Ignoring that."

"No I'm a little curious." Jinx cut in.

"You're a thief. You're always curious."

Jinx crossed her arms. "So are you?"

Raven gave a dull glare. "When am I ever curious?"

"You started dating me. You were bi curious." The pink haired girl finished with a cheshire cat grin.

Raven turned red as Zane looked between the two. His look turned to his sister. "Rebuttal?" She simply glared at him. He extends his arm towards Jinx like a referee. "Point to Pink."

Raven mutters. "Foot to somewhere between your lungs and colon."

Jinx shakes her head. "Point to Blue. Okay, I get it. You're both sarcastic smart asses."

Zane smirks. "I am a smart ass. Guess that makes you a dumb ass."

Jinx glares at him. Zane looked at Raven, expectantly. Raven half asses a hand wave towards him. "Point to Red." She says in her sarcastic tone. "Now, can we move on?" She moves to Zane, encasing him in her power to heal him.

They got back into positions. Raven behind Jinx, who holds both arms forward. Zane flexes his hand, holding it up towards Jinx's hands. "Alright. . . go."

At first, nothing happened. However, pink began to spark against red as the powers clash. The pink pierces through the red, entering Zane. Behind Jinx, Raven closes her eyes. "Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos." He connected herself to Jinx, helping to keep control. Her senses mixed with Jinx's, feeling the effects of releasing the hex.

Inside Zane's mind, however. . .

_This place seemed familiar. A near blank space of black and anomalies in the distance. A few remote floating islands made of rock. Two, to be exact. Connected my one massive bridge of grayish brown rock. The center of the bridge was a massive platform in a circle. The symbol of the platform was that of a magic circle. In the center, stood a familiar redhead with orange eyes. He stares blankly forward in pure deafening silence. _

_He knew what was happening, and braced himself. However, nothing could prepare you to have your soul ripped apart into two pieces. A massive pink bolt of lightning blasted through the space, striking the center platform just behind him. The pink sparks through both floating islands as everything erupts into a storm. _

_The man's face struggles to keep calm before gritting his teeth. Both islands glow as energy latches onto him. One side red. One side orange. Suddenly, his eyes widen as he releases an ear shattering scream. The half of his body connected to the red stays the same, except his right eye is replaced by two glowing crimson eyes. _

_A second voice overlaps with his. His left half changes to that of the original Zane. A single orange eye. Chin length parted jet black hair. Dark gray duster, and the color of his blue pants changing to black._

_The two energies swirl like flames as the black space is engulfed. _

_. . . . . _

The two voices ring out as orange energy rockets Jinx and Raven across the beach. The two roll to their feet into combat positions. This was something the two had seen before. Wolf stood before them, glowing red with four eyes. He smiled wildly, but the smile turned into a pained expression. He glared at Jinx and Raven, raising a hand with energy gathering, but his other hand pulls his arm down. Around him, the image of a black haired man with two glowing orange eyes fades in and out.

Raven tries to rush in to help him, but the energy blasts her back, Jinx catching her mid air. They land, Raven staring at the phenomenon. Her eyes suddenly replace with four glowing red ones as she phases into the ground. She comes up just under him, attempting to grab him. _I just need to heal him-_ The energy halts her, mid rush. Her hand stops millimeters from getting a hold of him. She's propelled away, skidding to a halt on her knees.

She looks up, seeing Wolf rushing her. _He's not using Zane's powers this time. That means only straightforward attacks. _She turns into a black image of herself, Wolf punching right through it. Raven appears behind, attempting to grab. However, Wolf whips around, gripping her wrist to stop her. He smiles as he tries to pull her into a powered punch. Jinx's body slams into his side, her arm snaking around to his chest like a clothesline before using a massive pink hex to launch him away. Jinx speaks quickly. "Use that circle thing!"

Raven's four eyes widen, remembering the new option. She locates the circle along the beach, quickly teleporting towards it. She lands in the center, channeling her power into it as all the symbols glow. . .

Jinx keeps her attention on Wolf as he launches volley after volley of blasts and attacks, forcing her entirely on the defensive. She twists in the air to dodge one, landing and rolling beside another. She crouches and launches a hex into the sand in front of him, blasting the sand into his eyes.

His vision returns, only to see her knee coming, but he catches it. A red spark of power launches her into the sand, rolling along the beach. She rolls to her feat, clutching her arm and breathing heavily.

He lunges forward. However, like a bolt of lightning, white energy grips him by the neck, whipping him face first into the ground. He breaks its hold, attempting to lash out when a hand catches his wrist. Raven appears in front of him, clad in white. He palms her other hand into his gut, white energy coating his body.

He seems to freeze in place, the image of the other man before appearing around him for a split second before Wolf's red eyes are replaced by his orange ones. He falls to the ground as the Zane they know. He breathes heavily. ". . . thanks. . ."

Raven calms down, her white cloak turning blue again before she stumbled to her knees. She also breathed heavy. "That takes more out of me than I thought."

He smirks. "Forcing transformations usually does." He looked at Jinx. ". . . good job."

Jinx looks between them. "Good job?! I nearly kill you, and you nearly kill us, and you say 'good job'?!"

He fell back onto his back, sweating. "All in all, that's the result we were hoping for. Though, I didn't expect to lose conscious control of my body. Nearly ran Wrathful." He looked at Raven with a smirk. "You did good too. Though, I think we'll need to have a no holds barred match sometime. That was a little too quick." 

Raven sighs. She smirks slightly. "That was enough for me." She looks to Jinx. "You okay?"

Jinx stands, holding her arm. "Eh, probably just a dislocation. Nothing serio-" Raven encased the arm in energy, withdrawing it a few seconds later. Jinx flexes the arm. "Darn. Here, I was hoping to get you to play doctor." She looks with a smile at Raven's humorless face. When Jinx looks away, Raven allows a small smile.

Raven shakes her head. She looks to Zane. "That's not how it's going to be for me, right?"

"No. When Jinx's power started to cause a split in my mind, my instincts took over. I have two full sets of those, remember? The Wolf one got my body, and the Zane side was struggling to keep a connection. Too many clashes. Yours should be easier, since both halves are still part of the same person and will want the same thing. . . supposedly." He looks at Jinx. "You're good enough. . . I think I need to rest."

Red energy engulfed him, taking him away. The two girls exhaled before looking up at the sun. Both smirked. Jinx spoke. "You feeling confident about tomorrow?"

Raven's smile faded, but then came right back. "Yes, actually."

"Good. We're going to kick ass and take names." Jinx said with a wink.

Raven sighed. "Don't Jinx it."

. . . . .

Zane appeared in a dark room. He switched on the light, revealing a dressing room. Tired, he sits down on the chair in front of the giant mirror, leaning back. Outside, he hears an obnoxious preppy laughter before the door opens. His sister, dark blue hair with bright blue eyes, walks in in an orange dress. He notes that the dress was wrinkled and not on completely, along with one of the laughs outside being a male. . . make of that what you will. She instantly sees him, her smile disappearing, but not appearing angry. "You're in my room."

He sighs. "Everything's going down tomorrow. Are you ready?"

She purses her lips. "And Raven?"

He smirks. "She's ready. Her whole group is good, too." He looks her over. "You didn't answer my question."

She waves him off. "Oh, yes. I did everything two days ago." She shuffles over to the mirror, straightening herself up right beside him. "Now, if you don't mind, I have some appointments to keep."

He rolls his eyes. "Don't catch anything."

She opens the door to leave, giving him a wink. "Demon, big brother. Who needs protection?" She leaves.

He stares at the door, cringing. "God. . . damn it, I hate when she says stuff like that."

. . . . .

The door to the common room opened, Raven and Jinx walking in. Jinx finishes a story. "And then her dad just shot him. It was weird."

Raven added. "You're one to talk about weird?"

Jinx smirks. "You're not exactly normal yourself."

Raven shakes her head. The two move towards the kitchen area, barely taking notice of the four teens on the couch. "Want tea?"

Over on the couch, the day's gossipers huddle. Beast Boy loudly whispers. "She never shares her tea!"

Jinx shakes her head. "Tea is great, but I'm feeling some coffee."

Raven nods. "okay. I'll go get half a cup of milk and a bunch of whipped cream then."

Jinx glares at Raven. "Don't. Even. Start."

Back at the couch, Beast Boy whispered. "They're teasing?! Raven doesn't tease anyone like that!"

Cyborg and Terra answer at the same time. "Except you." Starfire shushed them.

Jinx called to the four. "What you guys doing?"

Beast Boy hurriedly turned the channel on the TV to a racing game, him and Cyborg having controllers in hand. "OH! We're just having mutual bro time. Fun times! . . . with bros, dudes!" He says with a sweat. Cyborg slowly turns his head at the young teen, giving a very shamed look.

Jinx tilted her head, but accepted that. She looks at Star and Terra. "And you two?"

Terra replies, semi over acting. "Girl talk!" Way over excited for Terra.

Starfire follows. . . awfully. "Yes! The heterosexual girl talk!" Terra's eyes bug out before she slams her palm into her forehead.

Raven stops what she's doing. ". . . what?"

Beast Boy tries talking again. "N-not that there's anything wrong with doing stuff any other way-"

Cyborg sighed. "Man, just stop. You're making things worse."

Beast Boy waited a full two seconds before adding. "Being gay isn't anything new these days-"

The roof shook as the walls and ceiling explode in an outburst from Raven's powers. The smoke clears, showing a red Raven. ". . . who. . . fucked up?" Jinx was pale white.

The three original titans pointed at Terra. The blonde sputtered. "What the heck? Even you Beast Boy?"

The green teen smiled apologetically. "Raven is scary."

Jinx barely let out the soft word. "Traitor. . ."

Terra tried to argue with the nickname, but sighed. "Yeah, sorry."

Raven's eye twitched, her face still red. She looked at Cyborg. "Your thoughts on this?"

Cyborg shrugs. "You're a boobs gal? So? As long as you aren't still into scales is all I ask."

Jinx tries to open her mouth to ask about that statement, but Raven cuts her off. "Shut up." She then glares at Beast Boy. "Alright, go ahead. Take your pot shots."

Beast Boy looks around, turning red. "Um. . . I don't want to."

"No. Go ahead." Raven pleads.

Beast Boy sweats a little, but then takes a deep breath. "Which one of you is the Bitch and Butch?"

Black and pink energy strikes him out of the tower. Both girls in question shriek in a pitch higher than their regular voices. "NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!"

The two stormed out, Terra letting out a massive sigh. "Oh, Beast Boy. . ."

The little green bird slowly flew back into the room, turning to normal. He stumbled around in a daze. "What? I still don't understand how two girls do it. I mean there's no penetra-" Cyborg's fist cracks him in the head, making him fall to the floor out cold.


	18. Chapter 18

"I just can't understand why they couldn't just meet us at the tower before taking us." A whiny voice grumbled. "Could it be that hard?"

The voices carried through trees and branches, far from any signs of city life. The orange teen's voice cut in. "This is Slade. He is known for doing the round about thing."

Everyone marched along, listening to the green teen pout. "Whatever, dude. Where are we meeting them anyway?"

Robin answered. "We were given coordinates exactly seven miles West." 

"Too bad we can't go East." He pouts.

Terra raises an eyebrow. "Why? You wanted to go out into the ocean?"

Beast Boy chuckled. "No. I just wanted to make a joke."

Everyone did a sweat drop. Jinx asked the question. "What joke could you possibly have just from traveling Ea-"

Beast Boy immediately started singing. "EAST BOUND AND DOWN!"

Everyone did a collective sigh, continuing. All but Terra, who smiled at his antics. "I thought it was funny, Beast Boy." The green teen started hovering close to Terra, hearts in his eyes.

Jinx twisted her head at the scene. "Has he always been like that with her?" She asked to Raven.

"Yes." Raven groans out.

Jinx smirks, shaking her head. "Seriously, he should call Kenny Loggins." Raven tilted her head at Jinx, who's expression went surprised. "Cause he's in the Danger Zone." Raven tilted her head more, raising an eyebrow. Jinx's eyes widened. "From Top Gun?" Raven still gave a blank confused look. Jinx suddenly wrapped her arm around Raven's neck pulling her closer to whisper. "Okay, I'm forcing you to watch that movie when we get back. It'll be a date."

Kid Flash remarks. "You don't have to whisper. We all know you're dating."

The two dark clothed girls separated, each getting a tomato red blush. A light chuckle came from the back of the group. The two girls glared at the red head. Zane spoke in a weirdly nasal pitch. "Danger Zone."

Raven glared at him. "For a guy who hasn't been on Earth for 13 years, how is it you know more references than me?"

He chuckled. "You vastly underestimate my free time whenever I was here." He then looked around at everyone. "By the way, Bush solved all that terrorist stuff, right?" The uncomfortable grunts were his answer. "Aw." He sounded sad. He perked up. "At least I can see how much better Michael Bay's gotten at making movies." Everyone gave a tired 'ugh' to answer. He frowned. "That doesn't inspire confidence." He muttered.

Beast Boy looked at the redhead. "Heh, why are you here anyway?"

"I have interest in these events too."

"But you didn't help when the tower got invaded. . . not until we already got our butts whooped." Cyborg muttered.

Zane shrugged. "Why should I do all the work for you? Besides, you were doing great up until you weren't."

Raven told the truth. "He was being lazy."

He gave a nervous smile. "Totally Sloth." He admitted. He perked up. "I can bring the Wrath today, if you want?"

Cyborg counts off. "So there's nine of us. We're gonna get Slade, Red X, Blackfire, and whatever else Slade's had under his sleeve this whole time, vs Blood, Titans East, Hotspot, and Psimon." He tilts his head. "I think we have this in the bag."

"Overconfidence will be your downfall." Zane says, trying to be cryptic.

Beast Boy answers happily. "Star Wars."

Zane raises an eyebrow at Beast Boy. "Okay, smartass. You do the quotes. Nothing after the year 2000."

"Perhaps in another universe, Blood and I-"

"Star Trek." Zane answered bored.

"Life cannot be contained-"

Zane smirks. "Jurassic Park."

"There can be only-"

"Highlander."

Beast Boy did a suddenly raspy voice. "Ah Ah. I don't think so-"

"1995 Mortal Kombat movie. Raiden." Zane drones. "Try harder. Specifically, don't use two Christopher Lambert quotes in a row." 

Beast Boy scowls. He gets a sly smirk. "That's a lot of fish!"

Jinx replies. "Any whore from downtown." Every nearly trips from her outburst except Raven. Everyone notices the small smile on Raven's lips. Did her shoulders move? She chuckled!

Zane continues, shaking his head and laughing. "Matthew Broderick Godzilla Movie."

Beast Boy huffed. "MAN! He's good." He looked to the leader. "We there yet?"

Robin pulled a branch out of the way, eyes widening. "Yes."

. . . . .

"Please. . . define problems for me. I'm a little confused." Blood's voice echoed through a dark room. The darkness only illuminated from a red glow coming from a spell circle below him. The circle held seven slots with a gemstone in the center. The gem radiated. . . black light? Light rays that were black. The stone itself had a marking etched on it. The mark of Scath in a brilliant fiery red.

Blood walked around the circle slowly. An intercom sounded. A phone call without having a phone? Ah, technology. "Well, head master, it simply seems to be impossible. Public opinion has held fast. Even people I think will side against them will defend them."

Blood sneered. "Impossible?! How hard can it be to turn public opinion away from super powered teenagers?! It should have been easy!" A small screen shone on the wall of the room.

The man on the screen has receding gray hair, glasses, and a brown suit. A familiar news anchor. . . "Honestly, a few of the ideas I had would have worked if not for. . . unexpected hosts."

Blood sighed. "The Joker ruins everything he touches. Just a bad joke." He looks at the screen. News man Lori looked back with glowing red eyes from Blood's mind control. "Keep in mind, once I rule this world, you, as my proxy to the people, shall be my voice. How can I expect you to do that if you can't sway simple opinions about teenagers!"

Lori bowed in head on the screen. "I apologize, head master."

Blood scowled, but chuckled after a few seconds. "Oh, I know the sting of things not going according to plan. Continue as directed. My plans can succeed regardless of success or failure." Suddenly, the ground rumbled. Blood's smirk turned to a frown. ". . . speaking of things not going according to plan. . . End transmission." The screen blacked.

Blood turns to the circle, his eyes glowing red. A second layer around the circle appeared, glowing an dark bluish purple. The center of the circle lit up as well. The gem with the mark of Scath glowed as a larger symbol glowed under it. Just as the mark of Scath greatly resembles a S, this mark resembled an A. The two bottom points curve slightly outward. A single tick mark appeared in between the two points. The mark of Azerall glowed the dark purple. The gemstone sat in the center of the space of the A, still radiating black.

Blood appraised the double layered circle with a smile. "Oh children?" Out of nowhere, his remaining fighters appeared. "Go hold off our guests." Speedy, Hotspot, Aqualad, and Bumblebee place four figures on four of the spaces of the circle, all with cloth over their heads. After that, they rush for the door, Blood radiating his traditional red power and activating the circle.

. . . . .

The underground looked a great deal like an underground quarry. Nothing but tunnels moving in all directions. Another rumble came before part of the massive ceiling broke in from above, the rocks hitting the ground. Terra stands on them as Cyclones come in from all directions. They surround her and the rubble, arming their cannons.

She smirks as several more rocks float down, holding Jinx, Robin, Cyborg, Kid Flash and Red X. Starfire, Beast Boy, Blackfire, and Raven all flew in and landed. Zane dropped to the ground, landing feet first, four red eyes.

From the largest exit of the room, Titans East, Hostpot, and Psimon appear. The opposite side of the room, behind the Titans, explodes entirely, all the Cyclones being blasted apart. The smoke and debris clouds the room before quickly subsiding. In place of the Cyclones that were destroyed was a different army of robots. . . Slade's robot commandos. The ground ripped up in front of the army, showing Plasmus, Cinderblock, and Overload.

Out from the commandos came Slade, the one and only, holding an extremely large halberd, a memento from the Trigon crisis. Slade's one eye narrowed. "War has come. We're hunting for Blood."

Robin yelled out. "Titans GO!"

Both sides open fire, the entire scene lighting up in red lasers and blue sonic cannon blasts. The result is a massive tremor as the commandos leap at the Cyclones. Acrobatics vs brute force. A commando leaps over a Cyclone, making it turn around away from a second commando that bashes it over the head. The first one is blasted by a missile as a Cyclone tackles the second. Cinderblock hunkers down, tanking the shots from the enemy as the commandos use him for cover, taking pot shots at the yellow robots.

A line of Cyclones is shocked through, exploding as Overload powers up. However, the line of commandos with him is taken out in a speed blitz by Mas and Menos. Overload begins to direct his electric attack at them as they run circles around him, creating a tornado around the electric being. The wind of the tornado redirects the electric attacks back into the wind stream, trapping the villain. Suddenly, a sonic blast knocks the twins away, freeing Overload as Cyborg landed next to him.

The two twins look up, going wide eyed as Overload loads himself into Cyborg, the blue on Cy's circuitry lighting up brighter than ever. Both arms turn into cannons before firing a wide blast, imprinting the Spaniard speedsters into a rock. Mas mutters in a daze. "Mas y Menos-" Menos finishes. "se atornillan."

Another line of commandos are melted into molten metal by Hotspot as he power houses through them. However, his flame stream is split down the middle by a green glow, Starfire erupting from it and punching him back. He rolls to his feet, firing back like a rocket to tackle her. He hits hard before blasting her point blast. He continues the burst of flame until green energy coated hands clasp onto his. Star struggles as her star energy cancels his fire and launches him away.

He skids along the ground to a stop, but she catches up with him, bringing both hands down to slam him into the rocky floor. He tries to get up, but falls unconscious. Star realizes she won. "Oh, um. You are not the hot anymore?"

In the background, Beast Boy's voice is heard. "BURN!" Over with Beast Boy, he plows through a line of the yellow cyborg knock offs. He turns to normal before screaming high pitched, turning into a turtle to dodge an arrow. Up on a high pile of rubble, Speedy unleashes a hail of arrows. BB turns to a rabit, hopping over one, then turns to a robin to fly to the side of another. He changes to an armadillo, curling up to deflect arrow. Then becomes a snake mid air to dodge three arrows at once and finally land on the ground. He then goes kangaroo and flip hops over another hail of arrows.

Speedy scowls. "HOLD STILL!" He then looks down, seeing pinkish goo starting to cover his body. He's suddenly lifted into the air as Plasmus forms, holding him up. Speedy pulls an arrow out and jabs it into the beast's arm. The arrow activates as the entire plasma monster freezes over into a giant hunk of ice before shattering apart. He lands on his feet before hearing a meow. He turns, readying an arrow at a tiny big eyed green kitten. It meows again, looking with huge eyes. Speedy holds his aim, but his arms start to shake. BB just holds the stare. _That's right. Enjoy the cuteness._ Suddenly, Speedy is knocked over the head and falls over out cold.

Blackfire looks down at the green kitten. BB meows again. ". . . are you expecting me to say that you're cute?" Blackfire says coldly. BB meows in response. "You're a sickly green. That's my answer." She turns and rushes into combat with more Cyclones.

BB turns back to normal, his ears drooping down as he says slightly depressed. "Meow. . ."

Kid Flash wrecks through a line of bots, coming to a stop to look at his gloved finger nails nonchalantly. He dodges several shots at once, causing the sonic shots to hit other Cyclones. He skids to a halt in front of Psimon, who prepares a mental attack. The attack hits KF, but nothing happens. He wags his finger. "Ah ah."

Raven appears from behind KF, having shielded him. "I don't think so." KF blitzes forward, hooking Psimon in the jaw at super speed, planting him into the ground.

A line of graveled rock blasts apart from a pink hex, Jinx cartwheels into before dodging a lighting fast sting attack. She stops, throwing a hex up at Bumblebee, who shrinks and dodges it, growing back up and throwing a round house kick. Jinx ducks down, sweeping Bumblebee's other leg out. The flying hero flies back, readying her stinger weapons. However, both spark pink and crack apart. Sneaky Jinx. The pinkette grins. "You're no longer Queen Bee."

Bumblebee grins back, taking a martial arts stance. "Aw, we were both Queen Bee. I was the Bee. You were the bitch!"

A pink spark knocks a chuck off the ceiling down towards Bumblebee just as the ground she stands on cracks from another. Losing her footing, she's forced to fly backwards to dodge the falling rocks over her. The debris between the two is split apart by a powerful hex that launches Bee into a rock, KO'ing her. Jinx puts her hand on her hip in an authoritative way. "Damn straight."

Once again, BB's voice came in from the background. "You're not!"

Jinx looks in his general direction. "Okay. Gonna kill him."

Aqualad picks up two commandos, smashing them both together. He tosses them to the ground before being confronted by Terra. Terra smirks with her arms crossed. "Sorry, but. . ." She points around them. "You're in my element." A rock spike smacks the Atlantian up before a rock smashes down. Then the entire mass of earth around him opens and smashes him.

In the middle of the destruction, Zane slowly walks through yawning. Sonic blasts ping off an energy shield around him as several Cyclones try to rush him. They all are simply covered in red energy and pulls apart in all directions, then dropped. He looks bored. Suddenly, he stops. His hand clutches at his chest with a vice grip. He clenches his teeth. _What the fresh hell is this?! _

. . . . .

Blood chuckles, despite the rumbling and the slightly crumbling ceiling over him. "The fighting upstairs is rather noisy." He looks at the ever glowing circle below him. "I guess it's time to end the party. You know what they say? Better to end with a bang."

The circle shines bright, lighting the whole room in red and purple. Ritualistic symbols begin to light up on all the walls. . .

. . . . .

The battlefield calms as the entire quarry ground is nothing but smashed rocks and robots. Robot commandos tinker with the remains of Cyclones as the Titans look around them. Robin looks up with wide eyes as the walls and tunnels line up with symbols. Purple lights the area as a strange pressure is felt by everyone in the room. Robin yells out. "TAKE COVER!"

Terra brings up a barrier of rock around herself, Blackfire, Beast boy, and Cyborg. Raven coats her energy around herself, Robin, and Jinx. Zane, still clutching at his chest, falls to his knee and brings up an energy shield. He starts breathing heavy and sweating. He manages to get his energy around Slade, Red X, Kid Flash, and Starfire.

Suddenly, the entire underground base lights with a massive boom.

. . . . .

The rocks blast up as Terra climbs out from a deep hole. Her shirt ripped up, she turns tiredly to Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Blackfire, all looking equally beat up. The odd part? They saw the sun. "Dudes. . ." They saw an expanded mile radius crater around them several hundred feet deep.

Cyborg looked around. "Whoa! Was that all one big trap?"

Terra looks at Blackfire, who nods and takes off into the sky. Blackfire looks at the exact center of the crater. . . seeing a red, purple, and black glow. "That's not something good. . ."

Cyborg activates his communicator. "Robin? You there?"

. . . . .

Raven appears with Robin and Jinx. They look around from the outer edge of the crater. Jinx looks through the damage and smoke. "Jesus. . ."

Robin hears Cyborg. "Robin? You there?"

Robin responds. "Yes. We're at the outer edge of the crater. What's the situation?"

Cyborg's voice came back. "There's some sort of magic circle in the center of the crater. Lots of glowing."

Raven tries to look through, seeing a very faint glow in the distance. "Too far for me to tell what it is."

Robin responds again. "Starfire? Starfire you there? Kid Flash?"

Kid Flash's voice rang. "Uh, Raven? Your brother's having a heart attack."

Raven's eyes widened. "What?!"

. . . . .

Zane gasped for breath, on his knees. Red X tries to pull him to his feet, but Zane throws him off. Starfire and Kid Flash step away from him until the redhead holds his hand out to Kid Flash. He coughs for breath. "Give it."

He snatches it from the speedster as he takes a look at the circle a short distance away. He sees the four figures as the circle's magic recedes. His eyes widen when he sees the second circle around the inner one.

He cries into the communicator. "EVERYONE! GET READY FOR A FIGHT!" He tries to get up, but stumbles to a kneel.

Cyborg comes in on the comm. "Man, what's going on?"

Zane struggles for the breath as he sweats. His vision starts to blur. "It's. . . a combination of varying magics. The center gemstone is tuned to Trigon. It-" He coughs for breath. "It calls the spirits of his children."

Raven's voice came in. "Why am I not affected?"

"Only the dead ones are affected." He breaths. "One of which is half of me." His voice strains. He turns to the three teens with him. "You need to get away from me."

Starfire steps towards him. "But Zane, you are hurt-"

His eyes turn to four crimson ones. "I WON'T BE 'ZANE' FOR MUCH LONGER, NOW GO!" Just as the previous day when Jinx destabilized him, the image of the original Zane appeared around his body and flickered. The three listen, Star grabbing and carrying X away with Flash following. He chokes up again. "Anyone you come into contact with. . . kill them. It's the only way our plan will work."

Beast Boy comes in this time. "What's going to-"

Zane tries to finish, but he suddenly clutches his head, screaming in multiple voice pitches. Red and orange energy pours from him. The orange soon rips away from him before he lands on all fours.

. . . . .

Blood smiles at his handiwork. The four bodies that stood before were gone. They radiated different colors.

One figure radiated yellow. The next, purple. Then green. Finally. . . orange.

Blood chuckled. "Go now, children. Achieve what your father always wanted you to do."

The four figures all blitzed in different directions, leaving a cackling Blood, who's skin began to turn black and get sharpened canines.

. . . . .

Cyborg's group slowly made their way. "I don't get it. My seismic scanners are going haywire." He checked himself. "All my radar functions are doing the same."

Beast Boy looked up. "Uh, dude. Could it be that?" The group looked up.

Above them floated a gray, slightly purple, man with long gray hair. He was large, neither overly muscled or fat. Somewhere in between. Wore nothing but black pants. His eyes were pitch black.

Cyborg's voice was slightly intimidated. "Um, hello?" 

Blackfire huffs. "Who are you?"

The man speaks in a deep inhuman voice that rumbles through the air. "Gula."

Blackfire twists her face. "um. . ."

Cyborg's eyes widen. "Latin for Gluttony."

Blackfire scoffs. "Whatever." She charges up her star power and launches a beam at the enemy. The attack hits hard, but the opponent isn't fazed in the slightest. The purple energy rotates around him before he takes a large intake of air. The energy is sucked in along with his breath. He takes a deep breath before looking back down. . . with four crimson eyes. Purple energy appeared around him in the shape of a crocodile.

Terra's eyes widen. "Oh. . ." 

Cyborg finishes. "Shit.

. . . . .

Kid Flash skids to a halt on the rocky landscape. He looks with a smile. "Well, hey there."

Starfire and X catch up, seeing who stood in front of them. An average sized woman stood, long pine green hair flowing in a breeze with emerald colored eyes. She had a white leather sleeveless shirt, white leather skirt to her knees, and white boots. The girl smiles warmly at them.

Starfire, taken in by the smile, approaches. "Friend, hello there. Might I know your name?"

Red X tugs Star back. "State your name, little green."

The girl's smile turns vicious as she tilts her head forward enough for her hair to hide her eyes. She chuckles slightly. "Lyzza." She looks up with a wide grin. Four crimson eyes appear with the look as green energy forms around her like an lizard.

Star and X take defensive stances while Kid Flash sighs. "I can never hit on a girl without being attacked."

. . . . .

"Who's that?" Jinx wonders. The three came into contact with a lone man. Wearing a gray suit, the sleeves were ripped off, showing muscled arms, and wearing a gray fedora. Silver hair hung down under the hat as the man looked back with golden yellow eyes.

Raven's eyes narrowed before she stepped back in shock. "No. . ."

The man chuckled. "Well, how fortunate for me? I'm given the orders to eliminate you three, and one happens to be a deer sister." He pulls out a cigar and lighter. "Usually, in my line of business, family is important."

Robin looks to Raven. "You recognize him?"

Jinx sputters. "Another brother?"

Raven nods. "I saw him when I got to see Zane's memories."

Robin nods. "We'll take him then."

"What?!" Raven snaps.

Robin counters. "Slade's disappeared again, and someone needs to go stop Blood. You're the only one I can think of that can do it."

Raven narrows her eyes. "This is my family we're talking about. MY business."

"All the better you stop Blood from using your family." Robin answers.

Jinx smiles at her girlfriend. "Don't worry. It'll give me time to introduce myself." Raven glances at Jinx a moment, then back to Robin and nods.

She turns into a giant black energy raven and flies, leaving the two to face this child of Trigon. Robin scowled. "So who are you?"

The man looked at them as yellow energy crackled around him in the form of a fox. "Evaris. Essence of greed with the power of fortune." He proclaims with pride.

Jinx catches that. "Wait. . . your powers are. . . good luck?" He smirks as a response, which makes her get a devious smirk as pink sparks around her. "Then it's your unlucky day."

. . . . .

In through the nose. Out through the mouth. In through the nose. Out through the mouth. The redhead does his best to calm himself, but his body shakes. His teeth grit as he feels the full force of his instincts once again. He finally rises to his feet, sensing a presence. His voice was far more gruff and intense now. "I expected that you'd be the one he'd send against me."

A somber voice replied. "Yes, brother." A man walked in. Black duster, black boots, and black pants. He had a gray shirt underneath. His eyes were orange. He had shoulder length parted black hair. "Hello, Wolf." 

Wolf looks up. He shows four crimson eyes. "You know I'm going to have to kill you."

Zane looks back. "I wouldn't expect less. I have no control of my actions."

Wolf smirks. His voice held a bit of bloodlust. "Guess we'll find out who the strongest son is. Bad part is. . . it's going to be so much fun." His smile turned wicked. The same that's occurred any time he's run with wrath.

Wolf's body glowed red as the energy turned to a wolf. Orange energy gathered around Zane as his eyes turned to four crimson ones. His energy formed into a bear. The bear's roar echoed along with the wolf's howl.

. . . . .

Outside the crater, the energies glowed as bright as day. Footsteps were heard as a last person arrived. A sigh was heard with a whimper. Blue hair flowed with the breeze. "awe. . . I'm a lover. Not a fighter."

A familiar. . . entertainer appeared as her eyes too became four crimson orbs. Blue energy rippled around her.

"Well, guess I'll have to." The blue energy morphed into a tiger as it roared.

A black raven. A yellow fox. A blue tiger. A violet croc. A green lizard. An orange bear. A red wolf.

For the first time in history, all seven children will meet in one battle.

_**Alright, just for some explaining sake. The next few chapters are going to be separated. Meaning one chapter will focus on one fight. One will focus on the next fight. So on, until all five are done. Don't forget Raven vs Blood :p. They might be shorter, but I'll be making all of them as long as possible and of course, enjoyable. **_

_**Now, for the animals and colors I chose to represent each child. . . Well:**_

_**Evaris the yellow fox- Yellow is the color associated with gold and wealth. He's greed. The reason I gave his animal the fox is because of the phrase sly fox, which matches the way his powers will work.**_

_**Deliza the blue tiger- She's lust, and of course as a woman, that has a lot of cat jokes there. Plus the phrase tight like a tiger, anyone? As for Blue, Blue is my favorite color, so I wanted to give that to her since she's the only other living child. Blue lives! **_

_**Gula the purple croc- purple/black is the color most associated with his powers as you'll see. As for the animal, it was between croc/aligator or a hippo. I know Gluttony is usually the joke, but I want him to be a force to be reckoned with. Croc because of their giant ass mouths. **_

_**Lyzza the green lizard- obvious. Lizards are green. I explained her powers before, but we'll get more in depth, but it's like how a lot of lizards use camouflage. **_

_**Zane the orange bear- Sloth is laziness. Raven's emoticon for rudeness/laziness is orange. As for the bear, I went by the hibernation thing. Bears sleep a LOT. Plus, who doesn't like em.**_

_**Wolf the, erm, red wolf- He's the first child. As such, he's the essential Alpha male of the group. In my mind, if they were to all ever be on one side, he'd be the leader. Alpha male rules usually apply most for wolf packs. As for the color red, I went by power ranger logic. Leader is red.**_

_**Just to explain my line of reasoning. . . even if it's for a completely pointless little note about them. . . . SYMBOLISM! **_


	19. Chapter 19

"_**What is your purpose?" **_

_The words rang in a field of flames. An inferno as far and tall as the largest of metropolises. The heat seared all it touched. The fires dancing with a calling roar. One thing stood out within them. Four crimson eyes. They could peer into the very soul of whomever fell under their gaze. Their current victim was a large man, gray skinned with long gray hair wearing nothing but pants. The man sweat all over his body, bearing the flames. _

"_I exist only to serve your ambition, father." _

_The four eyes narrowed at him. **"Tell me. Do you have any foolish notions of freedom? Any plans of rebellion? Abandonment?" **_

"_I do not." _

"_**And what shall you do. . . should you meet your brother, Wolf, or any that share his goals?" **_

_The man hardened his black stare. "Kill him in your name." _

"_**Good. Go now, son. Your title. . . Gula the Hole."**_

_. . . . . _

Gula glared down with four red eyes at the four teens below him as he descended. He landed on his feet, having the full attention of the team. "It seems I've been tasked with eliminating you four." He appraises them. A green one who hasn't shown any ability. The blonde hasn't down anything either. The metal black teen is more than likely the most durable and strong. The alien has already outed herself as an energy user. Excellent. "I wonder." Each of them hears him say. "How will you taste?"

Cyborg jokes, poking BB. "He'll taste like chicken."

BB glares at him. "Dude!"

Blackfire floats by the three Titans. Her hands glow purple. "We have him outnumbered, so this will be easy."

Terra responds to Blackfire. "He absorbed your attack before, so who knows what he can do with that power?"

Blackfire huffs. "Don't insult me."

Gula looks them over. "You bicker on the battlefield? Such little discipline."

Beast Boy snickers. "You seem talkative too."

The demon grunts. "This is true. I shouldn't talk so much." His glare intensifies. "I should eat." His mouth opens, showing heavily sharpened teeth. However, the space in his open mouth turns jet black. With as little warning as a bolt of lightning, the four are caught in a wind tunnel, being pulled in towards the demon.

Terra's eyes glow yellow, bringing up giant rock hands that grab the four teens. All the rocks and debris in the area is sucked in, creating a barren blank slate of a battlefield. Blackfire and Cyborg open fire with sonic cannons and star bolts. The blue and purple attacks hit the black center of the suction. Gula's head whips back, the wind and black space disappearing. His head faces the sky as he seems to chew on something.

He finally sighs. "Tasteless." He whips his head back towards them, opening his mouth as a giant purple sonic blast fires.

Terra brings up a wall, blocking the blast and protecting everyone. Cyborg barks orders. "Energy attacks won't work. Use physical attacks." He looks at Beast Boy and Blackfire. "Go."

The two nod, Beast Boy turning into a pterodactyl, and fly over the wall towards the demon.

Gula looks at them as his hands glow purple. He holds up up over his head. "Fliers in my sky?"

Up above them all, the black center appeared again, the sucking winds came once more. Beast Boy is immediately caught in the winds, but changes into a brontosaur, weighing himself down to the ground. Blackfire powers through.

She closes the gap between her and Gula, slowing down the whole way. Just as she attempts to punch, she's pulled back by the pulling winds, her punch whiffing by his chin. He smirks pulling up his hand. Being much larger, he had a longer reach. He punches her in the jaw, launching her into the sky towards the black center.

Beast Boy sees her rocketing towards it, changing into a flying squirrel and soaring up towards her. Once withing range, he turns into a giant snake, wrapping around her with his tale end. Terra sends up a rock pillar, Beast Boy wrapping around it as Terra reeled the two back in. Suddenly, the pull intensified and started to pull Terra and Cyborg up with it. She brings up two sets of rock cuffs around hers and Cy's feet, holding them down.

Gula, seeing Terra pull the green and orange teens back, calms his power, the black orb above disappearing. "I see. A green shape shifter. An orange alien with flight, strength, and star power. A metal man with technological weaponry. Finally, a geokinetic."

Terra tilts her head. "Geo. . ."

Cyborg answers plainly. "Able to move earth."

Gula holds a blank stare. "You cannot defeat me."

Terra scowls, her eyes glowing again. She brings both hands up. The ground folds up around Gula, smashing him between the folds. Terra then brings up various large boulders, shaping them into drills. She smashes them in.

Cyborg follows up her attack with a volley of missiles. However, the missiles suddenly veer upward from the target as the black sphere appears again in the air. The missiles orbit around it and are sucked in.

The rocks around the downed demon crush inward before being compressed into a second black orb. The rocks are crush in and disappear into it before the orb disappears, revealing Gula who shows only a few bumps and scratches from Terra's attack. The orb above disappeared as well.

He looks back at the teens. "As I said. It is useless for you to face me." He looks over the three teens. Wait. . . three. "Where's the green one?"

A hole rips open just behind Gula. A green gopher pops out before becoming a large raptor. Beast Boy clamps his jaws around Gula's right shoulder. Gula grunts in pain as Beast Boy wrenches the demon down to his knees.

Gula's eyes glow red as purple energy appears all around them. The energy forms into a purple crocodile that clamps its own jaws around Beast Boy, eliciting a large raptor shriek of pain. Terra screams out. "BEAST BOY!" The energy croc whips its head to the side, tossing Beast Boy over to the other four. BB turns back to normal, Cyborg catching him. They look to see a large wound on BB's side.

Beast Boy gets onto his feet, clutching his side. "He wants to play that game?" He looks with obviously tired eyes at the others. "Get me in again, and I can take him out."

Cyborg shakes his head. "No. He could easily do the same to you. Hang back. Can you fight."

BB moves a bit, grunting in slight pain when his side is stretched. "I'll be fine."

Gula gets back up, clutching his injured shoulder. He takes a huge breath and blows forward, unleashing another blast. This one was a single shockwave from Cyborg's missiles with Terra's rocks from earlier firing out with it. The shock wave launches Beast Boy and Terra back before the rocks knock Cyborg and Blackfire back with them.

Blackfire gets up in an angry huff. "That's it! Enough of this guy." She nods to Terra.

Earth clamps lock onto Blackfire's feet as she slides along the ground towards Gula. The demon smirks as Blackfire tackles into him. The two lock hands in a strength contest, neither winning. Blackfire glaces at his shoulder wound, blasting it with her eye beam. Gula is stunned from the hit before Blackfire hooks him in the jaw.

He steps back from the hit, spitting up blood with a sneer. The rock clamps on Blackfire slide her forward, but she's suddenly stopped. She's pulled backwards with a strong force. Turning her head, the alien sees three of the black orbs, side by side, right behind her. She fights against the force, trying to power forward away from them.

Gula snaps his fingers, making all three orbs disappear. The pull goes with them, causing Blackfire to reel forward directly into a kick from Gula. The demon stomps the Tameranean into the ground, foot on head. He removes his foot, slamming his palm down onto her throat and choking her. She painfully opens one eye, blasting Gula point blank with her eye beam. He's forced up, giving her space. She rips her feet from from the rock clamps, bringing them up and drop kicking Gula into the air off her.

She rolls to her feet and flies back towards everyone. Cyborg continues to look over Gula. "Those orbs, man. They make miniature black holes. Much weaker than the real thing, of course. He seems to be able to make as many as he wants. Another hole can also appear from his mouth, firing back anything his other black holes suck in. He can also consume energy attacks and make himself more powerful."

Terra steps by Beast Boy, who still holds his side. Blackfire takes a defensive stance, breathing hard. Gula still shows his shoulder injury and some bruises, but isn't even breathing hard. "You fight hard. Yet, it is inevitable. You cannot win." He looks at Cyborg. "All your arsenal either fuels my power or is easily turned against you." He then looks to Beast boy. "You require too much effort to get to me, and you're already injured." He then looked at Blackfire. "You are a threat up close. Since I know this, it's that much easier to avoid." He then looks at Terra. "You are the primary threat. The lifeline." He pauses. "That means I'll have to take you out first."

He then felt a sense of de ja vu.

. . . . .

"_You cannot win." Gula floated in the middle of deep space. Stars shined in the distance of the black expanse. Complete emptiness. That's the same feeling he had inside him. He WAS gluttony, after all. Nothing could ever satisfy his hunger. _

_A massive green drill soared towards him. However, he simply opens his mouth, the energy constructing the drill being sucked in. He breaths, slightly appeased._

He looked back at the glowing green hero who breathed heavy. "That was tasty. Maybe you SHOULD keep fighting. I'm not satisfied yet." He was confident. Why would he not? Someone who absorbs all energy vs a green lantern? Surely, there was no possible way he could lose. . .

_. . . . . _

The fight seemed to take a pause. Gula seemed to be reflecting on something. The Titans took advantage of it.

Beast Boy looked at Cyborg. "Well, dude? You're second in command of the team. What's the game plan?"

Cyborg frowned. "Yeah. . . He thinks there's nothing I can do. That'll be how we win." He looked at Beast Boy. "You're going back to the tower." Beast boy nearly freaked over it, but Cyborg continued. "There's an experimental device in my room. Something special for my downtime." Cyborg's arm lit up with a small screen. He showed the screen to Beast Boy. "That's what you're getting."

"But-"

Blackfire counters. "We may need everyone we have here, though."

Cyborg shakes his head. "Too bad. You're going too."

Blackfire snaps. "What?!"

Cyborg explains. "BB is hurt and needs a short treatment with first aid. Otherwise, I'd only send you, but I don't trust you in our tower alone, so I'm sending both of you."

BB cried out. "But demon dude said that you're not much use here! Why not-"

Cyborg answered the stupid question. "Because I can't fly. It has to be one of you two. Terra's also the only one that can properly hold him off, so she's needed here. I'll help her as much as I can." Beast Boy sighs. Blackfire crosses her arms, agreeing. "Titans, GO!"

BB turns into a hawk as he and Blackfire soar into the sky.

Gula notices the quick movement. "Fleeing already?" He holds up a hand with purple energy, but several missiles hit the ground in front of him, bringing up a large wall of dust debris to block his vision. Gula sighs, creating an orb that sucks up the cloud. The dust is cleared, revealing a sonic blast to the face. However, Gula consumes the blast.

The ground rumbles as rocks uplift up into a shape. Terra stands on top of a large mass as it takes shape into a giant torso. Arms form along with a head, Terra on top. The giant half statue golem throws a massive punch at the demon. A black orb appears just in front of him, the fist clashing into it and getting sucked in violently. The golem pulls back, having lost an arm.

Gula inhales before blowing forward, launching all the rock in the consumed arm along with Cyborg's sonic shot back at the golem. Terra brings up the remaining arm to block, but the attack breaks through, crushing through the rock mass. The torso is blown apart as Terra raises and flies on the head.

Terra grunts in effort, ripping the ground apart under Gula. The demon flies up, but Cyborg jumps up from the new crevice. Gula quickly realizes. _She hid him underground?_ Cyborg uppercuts Gula up into the air. Terra flies down on her rock, smacking into Gula and smashing him into the ground.

However, the win is short lived, Terra's rock lifting up with her almost tripping off it. Gula lifts the giant rock off one handed. Purple energy radiates around him. "No more games."

Cyborg jumps over, grabbing Terra off the rock and running away. The rock over Gula compresses into a black orb before the orb disappears.

Gula levitates into the air. He channels his power as a large black mass appears over them all. The mass expands as a near storm begins. The winds suck everything up as the ground itself lifts into the sky into the giant mass. Cyborg and Terra are nearly sucked in before she clamps them down.

Gula smirks. "That won't work this time."

The ground below them shakes as large masses of land slowly lift up towards the building black hole. Terra thinks fast. The entire landscape gets a faint yellow glow as Terra anchors everything down with her powers, straining her control to its limits. The struggle begins as the rocks lift slightly before she forces them down.

Gula smirks. "It's only a matter of time."

. . . . .

Elsewhere, the two fliers approached the giant crater. They saw a clash of pink and yellow as a section of forest was ripped apart. On the other side of the crater was the large black mass and glowing landscape, their destination. There was also a large amount of explosions outside the crater deep in the woods. That fight seemed to be the most explosive with red and orange lighting up the sky.

Another fight took place at the center of the crater. Raven had obviously already gotten there. The spell circle that made the center of the war zone lifted into the air on a massive pillar, creating a large spire.

Finally, there was a massive green explosion in a blank spot on the edge of the crater. Blackfire halted and watched the line of green blasts in the distance. Beast Boy halted next to her giving her a questioning look while he was a pterodactyl, holding a black box with his taloned feet.

Blackfire looked back and forth between the green booms and the black hole in the distance. "You go on. There's something I need to do."

Beast Boy follows her look to the battle she seemed to take interest in. He nodded and continued flying.

. . . . .

The ground cracked and split to pieces, but held still. The suction pulled at the two Titans as Terra held herself and Cyborg down. The pulling pressure caused Cyborgs own body to start to crack. The veins were visible on Terra's head while her hair was pulled straight up vertically.

Gula still floated overhead, smiling at his victory. "You'll break. You will rise to your death and be consumed by me in three. . . two. . . one."

Terra's grip broke. Her power gave out as the yellow glow and hold on everything gave out violently in a single shudder. She closed her eyes. Cyborg yelled out. "OH MAN!"

Nothing. She didn't feel herself rising. She felt no pull. No, that's not right. She felt an intense pull, both up AND down. . . She opened her eyes, her hair flowing in all directions. The massive black orb above her still pulled violently. "What the. . .?" Her hair slowly flowed down as she found herself being softly pressed into the ground horizontally. She fell?!

Gula's four crimson eyes widened. "What madness is this?!" His deep voice bellowed.

Cyborg looked around. "Man, even he doesn't know what's going on?"

Gula looks around, unprepared. Without seeing it coming, he's unable to absorb as a blue flame bashes him out of the sky. He hits the ground and rolls to his feet.

Cyborg and Terra turn towards the sound of footsteps. A young woman, wearing tight jeans and a light blue blouse, appeared. She had long blue hair, and her eyes glowed blue while she gave a smile. "Am I late?"

Terra stutters. "W-wait. . . aren't you?"

Cyborg finishes. "Selima?"

The girl chuckles, her blue eyes getting replaced by four crimson eyes. "Please, call me Deliza." She sees Gula glaring at her. "Sorry to say, but I'm not that fantastic a fighter. I can hold him off, but I hope you have a plan?"

Cyborg nods dumbly. "Yeah! But what kinda powers you have?"

Deliza chuckles. "I have many powers. Harvested over a couple lifetimes are seduction of powerful heroes." She then chuckles, waving her hand. "I'm sorry. Now's not the time for pillow talk."

Terra and Cyborg both turn red. That's right. They forgot she's a prostitute.

She suddenly looks at Cyborg with an appraising look. "I know black guys are bigger, but if you're half a man. . ."

Cyborg sputters. "TIME AND PLACE!"

Deliza pouts. "No fun." She walks past them towards Gula. "So you're the brother that got away without meeting any of us?"

Gula nodded. "You were born after me, I see." His gaze hardened. "Your sin?"

Deliza flicked hair over her ear. "Lust."

He nods. "How did you defy my black hole?" He looks up at the still raging orb above. "Come to think of it," he looks down. "I feel heavier."

Her personality went full prep girl, and she explained excitedly while counting with her fingers. "Lets see, I absorbed fire from this kinky red head of the highlands. OH, he was nice. Then, I can alter gravity thanks to this other hero from the early, early 1900s. Of course his power from gravity. Guy couldn't get it up to save his life. . . well, he did, but it ended his life instead." She chuckled seeing the humorless, slightly disgusted stares everyone gave her.

Gula shook his head. "Enough!" He charges, creating a small black hole between the two demons. The pull knocks Deliza off balance. She blasts fire into the ground, launching herself over him to dodge his energy coated fist.

She lands behind him, but he quickly whips around after her. She snaps her finger as she's suddenly propelled away from him. A simple change in the location's center of gravity. She channels her power. Suddenly, Gula is pulled into the sky. He approaches the giant black hole still above them, double the speed he should be.

He saw what she was doing. _She's trying to take me out with my own black hole? _He's forced to cancel his overhead orb, causing the late night sky to appear again. He halts, mid air, before feeling locked in place. _She's placed the center of gravity on me?! _The ground below him lifted up and closed in, intent to crush him.

The rocks encase around him, creating a mini meteor in the air. Deliza channels her power and fires a massive flame blast, the attack piercing through the meteor and blowing up. However, the entire display is quickly sucked into a black orb inside the mouth of a giant purple energy crocodile. It opens its mouth wide as the fire blast and burning rocks are fired back down at Deliza.

The blast hits Deliza dead on, causing a large boom. The purple energy beast hovering in the air before an equally massive blue energy tiger jolted up as the two animals entangled and attacked each other. The energies clash and blow outward, causing both demon children to hit the ground hard.

Up above, a green pterodactyl arrives. . . waiting for its moment.

Deliza gets up shakily. "Remind me to kill Wolf for getting me into this." She looks to see Gula already approaching. "Too bad you're my brother, or I would use my empathic abilities on you." She says in a chuckle.

Gula approaches. "You're too handicapped against me. Give up."

Deliza smirks. "I wish I could, but I'd get an ear full for it. Besides." A ping sound echoed through the area. A small metal grenade style device lands at Gula's feet. "I think we just won."

The device ignites.

. . . . .

_Battered. Beaten. The green lantern was at his mercy. The two floated in the black of space, surrounded by black holes. _

_Gula once more boasted. "Give up. Allow me to consume you. You cannot win." _

_The gave one large roar of power as a green beam hit Gula. The beam pushed him away as he started to consume the power. The lantern spoke, a gruff voice of authority. "Funny thing. You never use your own black hole on you. Why is that?" _

_Gula absorbed the power and floated still. _

_The lantern continued. "Your body is capable of being damaged, so it's impossible for your body to withstand the pressure of a black hole." _

_Gula grunted. "Point? Any black hole I create, I can destroy. I'm in no danger of that." _

_The lantern smirked. "You haven't even noticed." He looked around to the dozens upon dozens of large scale black holes around them. "I lured you to a location with a real black hole." _

_Gula noticed his position was shifting. He quickly destroyed all his black holes, erasing all the ones visible around him. . . all except one. He's slowly pulled towards it. Oh no. Gula tries to fly away from it, but the green lantern flies in, hooking the demon in the jaw and knocking him a lot closer to the hole. _

_Gula halts himself just outside the black hole as it goes to suck him in. He turns to see the lantern creating two ship constructs to pull himself away from the black hole. The lantern gets smaller and smaller. . . _

_Gula is finally sucked into the black hole. . . and the memory goes black._

_. . . . . _

The device ignites as a familiar black orb appears. Half of Gula's body is engulfed in the black from the device. He screams out in pain as Beast Boy comes in as his full beast form, grabbing Deliza and crawling away from the black hole.

Gula's look fell to Cyborg. The teen smirked. "Nothing I can do, huh?"

Gula glares at the teen before getting pulled fully into the hand held black hole grenade. The black hole stays for a few seconds and shuts down, the grenade falling to the ground spent of energy. Gula is gone.

Beast Boy halts next to Cyborg and Terra, changing back to normal. Cyborg smiles. "BOO YAH!"


	20. Chapter 20

_How exactly does one define him or herself?_

_A name or title._

_Things you like._

_Things you hate._

_Dreams. . . for the future._

"_I am Lyzza. Full title: Lyzza the Lizard. Third born child of Trigon the Terrible and first daughter." _

"_Things I like? I've never been allowed many things to like."_

"_Things I hate? I've been taught to hate many things." _

"_Dreams for the future. . ."_

_. . . . . _

The young girl with dark green hair smiled with four crimson eyes glowing. She and her combatants stare down near the border of the massive crater, a forest to their side. "As much as I'd love to chat, it seems I'm tasked with killing you three."

She stood off with a grin against Red X, Starfire, and Kid Flash. Kid Flash turned to Star. "You're the senior Titan here. You taking command?"

Star blinked twice before looking blankly at Red X. "You are closest to a Robin here. Can you not-"

"I'm a loner. I don't play wonder boy."

Star grew red in embarrassment. "Um. . . okay! Allow me to negotiate." She smiles awkwardly and floats towards the four eyed girl. Lyzza's lips pursed, waiting for Star's brilliant people skills. "Friend, perhaps we should get to know each other over an unhealthy Italian meal?"

Lyzza stared blankly before looking past her to the two boys. Kid Flash's shoulder's dropped as he sighed. Red X merely shook his head. Lyzza looked back to Star before her fist bashed into the orange girl's jaw, launching the alien back. Red X tilts to the right, Star flying past him into a boulder.

Kid Flash answered. "Okay, my turn then. Take her out!" Starfire blitz's back through, right hooking Lyzza in the jaw and sending her careening into the woods. The force uplifts a line of dust and debris in her trail.

A few moments later, however, Lyzza slowly stepped out from the tree line, rubbing her jaw and stretching her neck, popping it. Starfire's eyes glow green as she fires a massive blast. However, the demon catches the attack. The blast forces Lyzza back, skidding along the ground, but she splits the blast to go around both sides. She gives a smirk to Starfire before turning to Kid Flash.

Kid Flash tilts his head. "If she's related to Raven, where's the energy demon badass stuff?" Red X's gaze narrows after that comment. Lyzza dashes towards KF, throws a crushing punch. He speeds to the side and speed punches her. While she's stunned from his hit, he appears on the other side of her, machine gun punching the demon back. He then dashes back, getting a running start and full speed crashing his fist into her.

The girl rolls across the ground to her feet as she gets up. She wipes blood from her mouth as she looks back at him with a smirk, much more sinister than the one for Starfire. Red X steps back, observing. The green haired girl gave a chuckle. "Strength, flight, energy beams, speed, and reflexes. . ." Star and Kid Flash took defensive stances on each side. "That'll do."

. . . . .

_The mountain region. So quiet. Serene-_

_The beautiful scenery is wrecked as the corner of a mountain collapses in a red blast. The resulting rock slide smashes down to the valley below, taking any plant life with it. The rocks stop at the bottom, a single figure hovering above. _

_The man, a familiar redhead looking a few years younger, wore 15's century fashion. Black boots, black pants, and silver shirt. "I know you're my sister, but pardon me if I'm underwhelmed." _

_The rocks stirred before a green haired girl crawled out, breathing heavily. Her clothes were mostly ripped up, leaving a near sleeveless dress top and most of her lower dress gone. She looks up. "Pardon me if I'm going to kill you." _

_Wolf looked down with four red glowing eyes. "At this rate, you'd be lucky to scratch my back." She bursts into the air at him, swinging her fist, but he ducks his head slightly to the right, dodging without effort as she passes him. He elbows her in the back, launching her back into the ground. The rocks around her glow red before he smashes them in on her. He sighs. "See my point yet?" _

_She breaks out from the rubble, shaking as she gets up. "I see why you're both wrath and sloth. The power to kill me, yet you don't put out the effort. You'll regret that."_

Zane's eyes narrow. "Why are you following Trigon?" 

_Her gaze doesn't leave the ground as she breaths slowly. "Because it's what I want." _

_He floats down to the ground across from her, his arms crossed. "Let me rephrase that. What do you want?"  
_

_Her hands ball into fists. "To kill all humans." She laughs lowly as green energy forms between her hands. Slowly it radiates outward, coating everything in site. The energy tints the entire landscape in a green bubble of energy. The energy engulfs Zane, but seemingly does nothing. He looks around, confused, before she laughs louder than before. "I'll have to start with you." _

_The green disappears, the true colors coming back. Zane looks back at her. "Pretty, but what did you accomplish?" _

_She smiled at him as a new form of her energy formed around her. The ground around them now glowed with green energy. Zane's eyes widened. "I gained power." _

_. . . . . _

Lyzza cupped her hands near each other as green light formed. Suddenly, the green bursts out, coating the area in an expanding green bubble. Starfire holds her hands up to defend, but it does no damage. She lowers her guard, looking around her. Kid Flash sees Starfire unharmed and is confused. The green bubble nearly consumes him as well. Red X's eyes widened. "GET BACK!"

Kid Flash tries to run back, but the bubble encases his arm. Upon running out, the arm is unable to leave the bubble. He struggles, but is forced still as the bubble gets him. He stops and looks himself over in the green energy. "What the?"

The bubble nearly gets to X, but he taps his belt as he teleports away. The bubble stops, X appearing just outside it. Just as quickly as it appeared, the green fades away. The three teens look at the chuckling demon.

Lyzza looks up with a toothy grin at Starfire. Within a split second, her fist digs into Star's gut, knocking all air from the Tameranean. Lyzza blurs out of sight, bashing into Starfire from behind. Star skids along the ground, stopping by Red X. She still gasps for air. X comments. "Feeling your own strength at a couple thousand times the speed. Rough times."

KF turns just in time to duck, a star bolt missing. He comes up, seeing Lyzza's fist coming at a speed matching his own. He spins his arms rapidly, creating a tornado that halts the demon in place, her fist inches from his forehead. Grunting, she settles for star bolting him point blank, launching him back.

Star gets up, holding her gut as KF comes back, stopping beside her and X. Lyzza slowly walks towards them, chuckling. "It's the darnedest thing. It always seems I perform better in front of a crowd." Her fists lit green with Starfire's star power. Her four crimson eyes suddenly turn green, just like Starfire's would, making four neon green eyes.

Red X's eyes narrowed before he teleported. An electric spark sound catches Lyzza's attention before she looks down to a sparking x. Red electricity bolts up, shocking the demon and stunning her. X appears behind her, his wrist mounted X blades spinning. Just before he can take her out, she reacts, ducking to the side. She wheels around, throwing a powered punch.

Kid Flash grabs X by the chest, tackling him away from Lyzza's counter. Lyzza gets ready to run, but Star grabs her from behind into a full nelson. Red X and KF get back up, X observing her. His X blades fold back into his gloves as he throws both palms forward, launching two giant x projectiles. "Let go of her!"

Star breaks the lock, ducking back as the two x's wrap around Lyzza, retraining her. Lyzza roars in rage, glaring at them as she powers her arms. Green energy rips the restraints, but KF speeds in and knee's her in the face. Her head cracks back, leaving her open. Starfire clasps both hands together, bashing them into the back of Lyzza's head.

The shakes the hit off, getting angered. She flies into the sky, Starfire taking off after her and firing star beams from her eyes. Lyzza speeds through the air, super speed plus flight, and dodges everything Starfire throws. She missiles down, drop kicking Starfire into the ground.

Lyzza drops down, smashing Starfire further into the ground. KF dashes in, hooking Lyzza in the jaw, but she braces herself, hardly budging. She throws a round house kick, but he vibrates himself through the kick. Surprising her, he unloads punches on her. However, having his speed, she starts parrying before outright blocking and grabs both of his fists. Holding him still, she plants her foot in his chest, sending him into the forest.

Below Lyzza's foot, Star tries to push up, but Lyzza smirks and pulls Starfire up by the hair. She tossed the alien lightly up before unleashing a fast barrage of punches on the mid air titan. She starts mixing kicks and knee strikes into the barrage as she Tekken style air juggles Starfire.

Lyzza stops the barrage, pulling her fist back for a final hit. "Yoink." X appears behind Star, grabbing her and teleporting away, leaving a confused Lyzza. The green haired demon turns her head, coming two inches away from the x on Red X's glove. A red x blast hits her in the eyes. She reels back, clutching her face.

Lyzza speeds into the sky away from X, who calmly looks at the demon. Kid Flash comes back in, clutching his chest. Starfire gets up, showing tons of bruises and blood dripping from her mouth. KF asks. "Is there a reason us two are the ones taking the hits?"

X answers, or comments. "She's not as good as you two." The two titans are confused. "She can't vibrate her molecules through solid objects. That's why I used the restraints on her to test that." He then looks at Star. "She should have also used princess's eye beam, but didn't. She doesn't have that either."

Star comments breathlessly. "She copied our abilities. . ." 

KF finishes. "But not the more advanced ones." He smirks.

Red X nods towards KF. "Speedy Gonzalez, run interference. Vibrate yourself as much as you need to stay out of reach."

"But that'll burn me out." He complains.

"I'm planning on it." Red X replies. He looks to Star. "You're our turret. Use as many bolts, from your hands or eyes or anywhere, as you can. I don't care." He then looks at Lyzza who slowly descends. "I'll create an opening." 

KF smirks. "I thought you didn't want to play team leader." 

"Doesn't mean I don't know how." He looked at the two, who looked back with expecting looks. He sighed. "I'm not saying it." The didn't stop their look. His shoulders slumped. He waved his hands to emphasize sarcasm. "Titans go. . . woo." He teleported away.

Lyzza lands as she and Kid Flash dash directly at each other. Lyzza's hands glow green as she goes for a punch. KF smirks as they close the distance. _No one's faster than me._ The two meet, Kid Flash vibrating through her. They skid to a halt, now on opposite sides from before. He boasts. "Come on! You seem a little slow."

Lyzza charges a blast, but is shot from behind by Star. Star fires blast after blast while firing from her eyes. The barrage knocks Lyzza back, but the demon dashes around the shots. She prepares an extra large bolt, but KF dashes in, smacking the green haired girl, causing her bolt to miss.

KF smirked at her. "Catch me if you can. Spoiler, you can't." He took off, leaving her growling in anger before chasing. Starfire rose into the air, raining star bolts into the forest, though she was pretty much guessing where to blast. All she could see of them were two blurs blitzing through the trees, one red and yellow, one green and white.

KF skidded to a halt, losing track of Lyzza, before the demon rips through a tree behind him. He yelps, dashing and vibrating through the thickest trees of the forest as the hell spawn bashes through them after him with brute force. He sees a glint in front of him as a smirk forms. He vibrates himself as three thrown x shuriken pass through him. Lyzza, unprepared, is hit dead on. One in her shoulder. One in her right arm. One in her left leg. Then all three explode, the blast halting the demon in place.

The smoke clears as she glares forward, only for both Starfire and Red X to blast her. Lyzza roars out, heading into the sky and radiating green power, both demonic and star power. Her voice goes demonic. "**I am one hundred and ten percent done!**"

She rockets down from the sky, Red X teleporting to dodge a smashing punch that caves the land in. KF tries to react, but Lyzza blasts star power in all directions, hitting him and launching him through the forest. She takes off after him.

He rolls to his feet, finding her bearing down on him. She throws a punch as he vibrates his molecules. Her fist goes through, however she expected this. She holds her arm out, letting it sit inside the vibrating speedster. KF's eyes widened while her smile did the same. "Go ahead. Stop vibrating. I'm interested how you'll react to the giant hole in your stomach. . ." While vibrating, he tries to run. However, she follows, even cutting him off, with her hand still inside him. "What's the matter? Can't run as fast while doing this little trick?"

Her hand glows with star power as KF thinks about what to do. He doesn't need long, as a red x blast knocks Lyzza off, letting KF collapse to his knees, catching his breath. Red X appears. "How long can you keep going?"

KF gasps for air. "I'm nearly empty." He shakily got up. Suddenly, Lyzza roars back, clotheslining each with one of her arms. She speeds backwards and elbows each in the back, knocking them into the woods. Green blasts suddenly hit her, but she rises out from the debris, looking at the beat up alien in the sky.

Both charge up green power and launch their attacks, entering into a beam struggle. Starfire then fires her blast from her eyes, doubling the power and overpowering Lyzza's attack. The beam rips through the demon's attack and detonates on Lyzza.

Star relaxes after her attack wins, letting out a sigh of relief. However, Lyzza blasts out from the smoke at high speed, elbowing Star in the jaw. Instead of letting Star be launched back, Lyzza catches the Tameranean by the arm, pulling her in and kneeing her in the gut. Lyzza shifts her hold and grips Star by the throat with one glowing green hand.

Star coughs out for air, trying to pull the demon girl's hand off. Lyzza's hand clenches around Star's wind pipe, eliciting a silence as no sound can come through Star's mouth. The alien throws both hands forward, blasting Lyzza point blank, but barely puts enough power in to annoy the demon. Too weak.

Lyzza, with four neon green eyes, glares back, angered. She raises Star up before full power throwing the red head into ground below with a loud crash sound. Lyzza raises her hands, charging a star bolt, before blasting the downed Starfire. The debris clears, revealing Star slowly getting up.

One thought goes through Lyzza's head. _Bigger. . . _She raises her hands again, charging a larger bolt, about the size of a person. She launches it down into Star. This time, Star is visibly injured, with partially shredded clothing. The alien continues to get up. _Bigger! _Lyzza charges yet another shot, this one the size of a car. This one gains a scream from Starfire. However, Star still struggles to get up. Two of Lyzza's eyes twitch in annoyance. _BIGGER! _She charges a final blast, the size of a large truck.

Just as she prepares to launch the attack, a purple beam blasts Lyzza out of the sky crashing into the ground. A newcomer lands beside Starfire, helping her up. The redhead looks with one open eye. She gasps. "S. . . sister?"

"Shut up." Blackfire pulls Star out of her little crater, letting her stand on her own. Star simply stares blankly at the black haired alien. Blackfire sighs. "Alright, fine. I abuse you in every way possible, but we are sisters. I don't ACTUALLY want you dead." Blackfire spares a glance at Star, seeing giant green puppy eyes, Starfire shaking and hugging herself. The brunette looks dully at her before sighing before letting herself give a very slight smile. "Go ahead."

Starfire, like a bolt of lightning, picks her sister up in a giant bear hug that would kill anyone else. "OHHH, I LOVE YOU, SISTER!"

Blackfire's eyes widen. "Demon!" The two separate as a massive green blast passes between them. Lyzza growls demonically as she approaches to two.

Lyzza mutters. "Mortals. . . I hate you all."

Blackfire snickers. "Feeling's mutual." The two sisters take fighting stances, but Star winces while moving. Blackfire looks at her. "Nuh uh. You're definitely not up to this."

Star pouts. "I can-"

"Be a bullet shield? Yes. I'll fight alone." Blackfire's eyes glow purple as she smirked. "I always was the better fighter anyway."

Star crosses her arms in a huff. Lyzza takes this as an invitation, speeding forward at Blackfire. The brunette barely blocks the charging punch, the force pushing her back. Blackfire grips Lyzza's arm, pulling and tossing the demon up and into the air away from her. She then launches off the ground after Lyzza, uppercutting the demon as soon as she got balance.

Lyzza halts herself in the air, glaring back at Blackfire. She growls and speeds forward, shoulder tackling Blackfire out of the sky as the two disappear into the forest, followed by a line of green and purple explosions, mostly green.

Kid Flash comes back from the forest, coming to Starfire. "We got help?" A giant blast sounds before Blackfire rockets through the trees into the ground next to them. "Guess so."

Star asks. "Where is Red X?"

KF sighed. "He said 'hold her off'."

Blackfire gets up, catching her breath. "Hold her off? How are you guys still alive against this girl?"

Star looks in the direction KF came from. "We should do as he says." The three look to see Lyzza glaring at them.

Lyzza suddenly smirks, bringing her hands together. The same green light from before. The green energy bursts out, creating a bubble on the area.

Star prepares to try to run, but KF places his hand on her shoulder. He looks at Lyzza. "What's the point? You already have out powers."

The bubble coats over the three, Blackfire looks around. "What's going on?"

KF and Star both realize that Blackfire is standing there. They share a look, then to Lyzza. Kid Flash asks. "Hey, Lyzza. . . when multiple people with the same power are in your bubble. . . the powers don't stack, do they?"

The green bubble disappears, Lyzza simply giving a creepy smile back at them. Her hands and eyes glow with star power. Her left arm and eyes glow green. Her right arm and eyes glow purple.

Star speaks very slowly and slightly afraid. "Yes. . . yes they do."

Blackfire, still confused, asks. "What happened?"

KF face palms. "You made her stronger." Lyzza breathes heavily before cackling. She charges forward. KF charges at her. _I'll only get one chance with this. _They meet in the center, Lyzza moving to punch him with her green fist, Kid Flash extending his arm to grab her.

They got closer as everything seemed to move in slow motion. All things turned still as the two speedsters moved mere inches. The green fist slowly crept towards KF's head. Just before it hits, his hand grips her arm. His body suddenly vibrates.

Time moves normal as the two pass through each other. KF trips, rolling across the ground. Lyzza skids to a halt on her knees, screaming bloody murder. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Her left arm steams and shakes as it starts to burn.

KF sits up against a tree, unable to get up. "I'm no Flash. I will be one day, but sometimes not being that good is, in itself, a good thing." He points tiredly to the burning arm. "That's the same arm you held within me earlier. Even while vibrating, two objects can't share the same space for long. All I had to do was pass through it one more time."

She screams in pain as the arm burns all the way up to her shoulder.

KF continues. "Vibrating my molecules isn't nearly as smooth as the real Flash's. Because of that, I can weaponize it under extreme circumstances. I made your arm unstable at the molecular level. It's corroding away." An actual ability of good old Wally West. He passes out with a smirk, exhausted.

The screaming demon looked as her arm fully burnt off, a small stump. She grunts in pain before glaring at the speedster. "I'll kill you!"

Suddenly, purple and green blasts hit her from the side, but she hardly budges. She turns back, purple and green eyes glaring. Her remaining arm glows in a swirl of purple and green.

The two sisters brace themselves as Lyzza throws a massive star bolt. The blast wipes out a section of the forest, creating a long trench. In the trench, Blackfire struggles to get up, but Starfire is completely down, out cold.

Lyzza steps forward slowly, sending double powered bolt after bolt. Blackfire blocks the first hit. The second blasts her guard open. The third shot propels her back into the ground. She tries to get up before a fourth shot hits her.

Lyzza growls as she prepares a fifth shot, aiming it for Starfire. However, a small rock smacks into the side of her head. Lyzza lets out a throaty grunt, looking to the side to see Red X in the distance. "I know all women are cold blooded reptiles, but you give whole new meaning to it."

Lyzza turns her attention to him, but then looks to Blackfire, blasting her one more time to knock her out. Lyzza returns her glare to Red X with a frown.

Red X gestures her to come at him. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

Lyzza breathes heavily, then yells out a roar. She charges in super speed. . . and then slows down. She slows to a regular slow run, gasping for air. She slows further to a halt, just in front of X.

"Problems?" He asks her, tauntingly.

She falls over, holding herself up with her one arm. "What- What the hell is going on?!"

Red X chuckled. "You took Kid Flash's powers. You also took his weaknesses. You might have demon stamina, but you burned out too much power using the sisters' power. Combining that with all the super speed, I knew you'd run out sooner or later."

She gasps for air, trying to get up. She remembered his words earlier.

"_But that'll burn me out." Kid Flash complained.. _

"_I'm planning on it." Red X replied._

"You bastard." She chokes out, getting to her feet.

Red X chuckled. "Funny thing when you envy someone. You never know the problems they themselves have to deal with."

She growls in anger. "Shut. UP!" She throws a punch, but he teleports out of the way. She passes through where he just was, falling into a deep hole that was behind him. She hits the ground hard, but is still okay. She looks up. . . noticing the hole is in the shape of a giant x. The sides of the hole? Lined up with dozens and dozens of explosives.

X appears at the top, looking down at her. "Do I need to say it?" He holds up a detonator. . . and presses the button.

She thinks to herself. _X marks the sp-_

. . . . .

"_What do you want?" _

_That had been the question Zane gave her. Her answer? "To kill all humans." _

_But. . . that answer was not entirely true. She was born of the demon Trigon. From the moment of her birth, she knew only one thing. Her life was decided. Her life was fate. Every detail of her goal was set out for her before she was ever conceived. _

_She was jealous. She ENVIED her father. Someone to have that much power over other beings. It was. . . intoxicating. Magnificent to lead followers of multiple dimensions. To be someone's god. To be the one who decided others' fates. _

"_Why are you following Trigon?" _

_How else can one achieve his power? Follow his commands. Bide your time. Find out his secrets. She couldn't possibly resist him. To do that would sentence her remaining life to living in fear of his vengeance. She didn't know how Wolf had made that decision. She wanted to become him one day. . . until she came to Earth._

"To kill all humans." She hated them. Despised them. She hated every single thing she ever saw them do. They could decided and train themselves for their own fate. They were not pitted against their own siblings by their fathers. They. . . were free to be anything. She was jealous of her father, sure, but what she truly envied. . .?

"_My name is Lyzza."_

"I was denied the right to like anything." 

"_I was subjected by force to hate everything." _

"_My dream for the future. . . was to be free, even if that freedom is death."_

_. . . . . _

The explosion shook the ground as a plume of fire and smoke erupts from the hole. Red X stands in front of the flames, not moving an inch as the shock wave blasts his cape back. The flame dies out as smoke bellows from the hole. Red X turns slowly and walks towards the other three.

KF lays resting against a tree. Starfire is out cold on the ground. Blackfire stirs slightly, but doesn't wake. Red X chuckles. "Good work, team."

He moves over to Starfire, finding the communicator at her waist smashed from the bolts. He sighs and moves over to KF. He finds his comm and takes it.

"Radioing to Chuckles. Come in Chuckles." No answer. "Anyone out there?"

Cyborg's voice rings in. "X?! What are you doing of Kid Flash's comm?"

Red X saw Cyborg appear on the mini screen. "Take a look." He pointed the camera to see KF, Star, and Blackfire out like a light. He pointed it at me. "We took out a demon."

"Whoa. . ." Cyborg muttered. "I guess that's where Blackfire went. We just finished one off, with a surprise help from Raven's sister." Red X's eye widens. "Long story. We're all good though. I need minor repairs. BB's been patched up. Terra is about to pass out from exhaustion."

Red X nodded. "I'm the only one conscious. Blackfire should be fine. Kid passed out from exhaustion. Princess, however, is the most injured." He looks at Star for a moment. "I doubt it's anything serious, though."

Suddenly, Robin's voice cut into the comms. "Cyborg?! Cyborg?! Come in!"

Cyborg's voice was surprised. "Yeah, man, what's going on?"

"I need you at my position now. Prepare for some surgery." Cyborg's eye widens on the screen. Red X's widen as well.

"What happened?!" They both ask.

Robin explains. "We took down a demon. . . well, Jinx did, but if you don't get here now, she's as good as dead."

**Next time. . . the battle of luck.**


	21. Chapter 21

"_YEAH!"  
"GET HIM!" _

"_Rough him up!" _

_Screams and cheers roar with the thuds and smacks of fists. A man wearing nothing but shorts hits concrete. He moves to get up, dripping sweat._

A larger man, brimming with muscle, cracks his knuckles in the center of a circle of onlookers. The spectators cheered as the fallen man gets up, wobbling back and forth.

_The muscled man quickly slams his fist into the smaller man's face, launching him out of the circle into a wall behind the fans. A slim man walked to the downed opponent, checking him before signaling that the man is out cold._

The crowd cheers as the slim man raises the larger one's hand. "WINNER: Bickslow "Brick" Powers!" The crowd cheered as several people groaned, having lost their bets. The slim man announced further. "Who else wants to challenge the Brick, the man who can bench press a railroad car? Place your bets!"

_People whistled and cheered as footsteps came from the crowd. A couple murmurs came as a new contender came. A man in a gray fedora, gray suit vest, no sleeves, gray pants, and silver hair coming over his eyes from under his hat. He had a grin, showing slim but muscled arms. "I'll call my bet." He looked up with golden eyes. "After all, I'm a lucky guy." _

_The announcer nods and steps back as the muscled man known as Brick grins. "Placing bets now! New contender vs Brick!" _

_Brick snickered. "Well, I'd ask for your name, wanker, but you won't remember it when we're done." _

_The man smirked. "Really? Let's make a bet on that then." Brick tilted his head. "I'm a man of fortune. You're a man of strength. If you win, feel free to kill me. If I win, your life is mine, and you'll join me." _

_Brick cackled as he charged. The crowd cheered. Brick yelled. "Good to know! Die, wanker!" _

_A sudden crack deafened the crowd. Brick's fist connected with the mystery man's guard. The man's other hand connected with the underside of Brick's punching arm. Brick's arm fell limp as he screamed and fell to a knee. _

_The fedora man smirked. "Sorry. Guess that was a lucky shot. So, when are you going to start working for me?" _

_Brick rose, using his remaining arm to throw a punch. "Piss off, fedora wearing freak!" _

_The man's fist crashed into Brick's face before his punch even reached the challenger. Brick fell back, out cold. The mystery fighter snickers as he straightens his fedora. "Oh, by the way the name's Evaris. Happy to be your new boss." _

_. . . . . _

Evaris looked dully at the two teens in front of him. "What's this?" He looks between the two, first to Robin. "A spiky haired Halloween decoration?" He then looked at Jinx, noticing her pale skin. "And pink Mrs. Mime?"

Jinx and Robin scowl at him. Jinx snickers. "With that outfit, what are you? The original hipster?"

Evaris straightens his hat. "Well, judging by the special outfits, you two are meta humans?"

Robin extends his staff. He frowns. "You're Raven's brother. What can you do?"

"It's not hard to find out. Come at me and try your luck." He smirks.

Jinx grins, snapping her fingers. A pink hex sparks along the ground towards Evaris. The demon is shocked when his yellow energy sparks out, clashing with the pink. The energies cancel, creating a concussive gust of wind.

Evaris chuckles with confusion still on his face. "You're serious? I've faced people who took advantage of luck charms before, but I've never once faced someone who's luck power clashed with mine!" He smiles. "What's your name?"

"Jinx. Mistress of bad luck." Jinx answers. _Why didn't that hex hit him? _

Evaris's head whipped up, laughing. "BAD luck? That's why? This is priceless!" He looked at her, his eyes glowing gold.

Robin stepped back. He whispered to Jinx. "Be careful. He still has only two eyes. He's holding back."

Evaris snickers. "Alright, _Mistress of bad luck,_ let's test your luck." He reaches under the top of his shirt, pulling out a golden cross necklace. He rips the necklace off as gold energy around him channels into the cross.

Jinx's eyes glow pink as her hex power crackles. "A demon with a cross necklace? The irony. . ."

Evaris grins. "Bitch, you're just jealous of my super demon swagger." The necklaces turns into pure golden energy before forming around both his hands, turning solid into golden brass knuckles. Yellow sparks crackle around his fists.

Evaris chuckles and charges the two. He punches the ground, cracking apart the ground in a yellow spark. The crack separates the two heroes. He moves in towards Jinx with a smirk, throwing a punc. She cartwheels towards him and hops over, hand standing on his arm. _I'll hex his arm and knock out his nerves- _The pink sparks against yellow as a concussive force blasts the two apart, crashing Evaris into the ground, and throwing Jinx through the air into a tree.

Evaris gets up, feeling a sense. He ducks as a thrown disk from Robin soars past, exploding far away. He dodges to the side, avoiding a spin kick from the teen. Robin lands, throwing a smoke pellet into the ground. Evaris chuckles, throwing a punch into the smoke. Suddenly, an invisible force dissipates the smoke, smacking Robin away. Robin rolls across the ground before getting back to his feet, scowling.

Jinx flips back, drop kicking Evaris away. She lands and back flips over to Robin. "I don't get it. Why aren't my hexes working?"

Robin looks at the demon. He frowns. "Hex the ground below him." Robin charges as Jinx blasts the dirt the three fighters stand on. The ground cracked apart until the hex once again clashed with the demon's yellow. This time, however, the energies not only cancel, but soften the ground, Evaris's footing sliding away a moment.

Robin swings in with his staff, Evaris blocking it with both hands. He throws bird boy off, getting back to his feet. Robin lands and throws another disk. Evaris covers his eyes as the disk explodes like a flare of blinding light. The demon ducks as Robin's staff swing misses. He opens his eyes again, focused on boy wonder. He throws a punch as Robin attempts to block with the staff. The staff breaks instantly, Robin ducking backwards. The fist halts just before connecting with Robin's jaw, but a force hits anyway, launching him away.

He rolls to his feet, once again getting to Jinx. The pink haired girl looks at him. "You don't look so good."

Robin breathes slowly. "I'll live. This time, you're attacking."

"Fine by me." Jinx charges in. Evaris punches at her. However, she hexes the ground, collapsing the ground below her, making her fall under the punch. She rolls to her feet beside him, moving to slam her crackling palm into his side. _Now, go down! _She thinks, frustrated.

The palm hits as the clash comes back. The entire area lights up pink and yellow as the two are blasted apart. They each roll to their feet. Robin rejoins Jinx.

"What the fuck is this?!" She yells.

Robin puts his hand on her shoulder to calm her. "Look." She looks around, seeing all the trees in the area sparking with either yellow or pink. Those with yellow thrive, and suddenly turn extra green, full of life. Those with pink wither and decay.

Jinx tilts her head. "I don't. . ."

Robin narrows his eyes. "His powers are the direct opposite of yours. Every time you touch, you two clash."

Jinx's eyes widen. "Great! So, I can't attack him?"

"Goes both ways, broad." Evaris claps with a smirk. "Good luck vs bad. Say, you try to use your bad luck to shut me down. However, my good luck wants me to keep going. Direct clash. Conversely, if I try to punch you, my good luck will try to augment my hit, cracking a rib, which would result in the bone puncturing a lung or kidney. However, your bad luck will try to sabotage my punch. Direct clash."

Jinx scowls. "We can't attack each other. . ." She looks at Robin.

Robin interrupts. "You're the only one that can." She looks confused at him. "He can predict all my attacks. A sixth sense. It doesn't apply to you, but nothing I do can touch him." Robin finishes angry.

Evaris snickers, feigning ignorance. "What are you talking about? I'm only getting lucky."

Robin continues. "Plus, also unlike you, whenever I dodge one of his attacks, the force still hits me."

Jinx raises an eyebrow. "That's not good luck."

"Your hexes can hit with concussive power too, and that's not technically bad luck. The good luck makes sure the damage is done anyway."

Jinx recalls Zane having giving a similar argument. Her hitting with a hex and knocking someone back, doing damage, was considered bad luck for the person being hit. She sighs. "I see. I have to fight this guy alone."

Robin scowls. "I'll wait for my chance. Luck only goes so far."

Jinx nods. She charges up a blast and fires. Evaris frowns, punching the massive hex as the powers clash. He's forced back, but takes no damage. "This is going to be boring if we just clash like this-" He notices that she disappeared, having used the hex to cover herself. He turns, receiving a boot to the face. He stumbles back, rubbing his jaw as Jinx lands in front of him.

He begins throwing punches at the acrobat. She jumps back as he follows, ducking a hit before flipping over another. _I'll have to use my hexes differently._ She drops to the ground, hexing the ground. Evaris attempts to hit her, but the ground cracks under her. She falls into the ground, the attack missing. The area sparks pink, shattering the dirt beneath the demon. His luck finds him the leverage to hop back. However, Jinx leaps up from the dirt, kneeing his arm up, opening up his guard. She drop kicks him back, flipping onto her feet.

Evaris chuckles, despite having gotten hit. "If you plan on winning with hits that don't involve powers, this will never end."

Jinx glares at him. "What are you suggesting?"

He smiles. "A wager. Test of luck. We go at each other with our powers at full, again and again. First one to find a trick to affect the other, wins."

"The loser?" She asks, knowing the answer.

He grins. "Dead." His golden eyes are replaced with four red ones.

She nods. "You're on." She sends a hex along the ground at him. He punches the ground, sending a yellow hex along the ground as the energies clash. The blast clears, revealing a giant yellow energy fox charging Jinx. The same energy animal ability all Raven's siblings have. Jinx's eyes widen. _That's not fair! _

She suddenly remembers her training with Raven and Zane. _Hex their powers. . . _Pink sparks between both her hands. She throws her arms out, the pink blasting into the yellow fox. The animal halts, jerking from the pink sparks before reforming back into a wide eyed Evaris. Jinx cups her hands together to blast him as he punches. The two attacks struggle violently. The two are launched apart, each skidding to a halt.

Evaris channels his power as his golden brass knuckles turn to pure energy and reform into twin gold pistols. He aimed them with a wide grin. _Test my lucky shot. . . _He rapid fires yellow shots.

Jinx throws both arms forward, sending her hexes in waves. Each shot clashes with a wave and cancels, but the shots slowly get closer, more numerous. _Shit. Think fast. . . _She takes one arm back, slapping the palm on her own side and launch a hex into herself. The hex hits her with a concussive force, knocking her to the side as the yellow shots get through her hexes and zip right past her. The force knocks her into the forest, out of sight.

Evaris looks wide eyed before he chuckles. "Simply brilliant. You subjected yourself to bad luck to take yourself out of a situation where my luck applies." He looked around, unable to find her. "and now, since you're a thief, you can use your experience to hide and come up with a plan."

Far off, Jinx hides around a tree, sitting and holding her side. _Fucking hurt, but better than bein' shot. Think. His explanation. Our powers clash when there's a direct conflict of interest for our energies. So. . . _She smirks. _I have to do something his powers aren't used to protecting him from. _

Evaris scans the trees around him. Ordinarily, he'd simply fire at random through the leaves and brush. His powers would ensure the trajectory of his shots would cause a hit on his opponent. However, she couldn't be automatically targeted by his powers, so that wouldn't work. _I could fire anyway? Simply hope a shot hits without being sure. . . I've never been in this kind of situation. Is this how normal people feel?_ He scoffed. _How sad._

The ground sparks pink, gaining him a smirk. This tactic again? The ground cracked apart, but he still managed to get footing in the crumbling dirt. Suddenly, the three nearest tall trees spark pink and topple over towards him. He raises his eye brow. Falling trees are supposed to kill a demon? He ducked down and jumped up into the air above the trees.

Foot steps came in, Jinx running up the falling tree behind him. She leaps off it towards him. He whips around, pointing both guns at her, but she split kicks both his arms to the side. She slaps both her hands on the sides of his head, specifically on his ears. Her hex sparks from her hands as their powers clash. The clash blasts the two apart mid air, both hitting the ground about thirty yards apart.

Evaris gets up, clutching his now ringing ears. He smirks despite the pain. "Nice try, but I've faced sonic attacks before. Deafening me won't work." _Still hurts like hell, though. _He brings both pistols up, firing.

Jinx back flips and cartwheels backwards away from the shots as they hit the ground. She moves back to a hand stand, hexing the ground. The dirt and rock below her shudders, uplifting enough dirt to cover her. Evaris begins firing into the dirt cloud, missing and uplifting more. Jinx thinks as she lays flat on the ground, the shots going overhead. _Okay, sound didn't work. Physical damage isn't going to work well. Shutting his nerves down already failed. Guess I'll try to blind him! _

She rolls onto her front, palms down as the ground between the two sparks. Just like her cover, dust uplifts and clouds the area. Evaris snickers. "Trying to blind me? Please. I'm a mafia boss. I've taken a few police flash bangs in my line of work. My powers will simply clash with yours."

Jinx's voice rings. "Who said I was blinding you with powers?"

Before he responds, her hand comes out from the cloud, tossing a handful of dirt right into his eyes. He clutches his eyes in a scream of pain. "ARH! BITCH!"

Jinx's slams her palm in the center of his face, hand sparking pink. The attack works! Launching Evaris back onto his ass. There's a slight backlash, but Jinx manages to keep standing as Evaris rolls to his feet, rubbing the last of the dirt from his eyes. She grins. "That actually worked."

Evaris looks around. "Um, what did you do?" He felt a weirdness as he breathed in and out. He noticed a throbbing in his head.

Jinx frowned. "Huh. . . I was expecting more."

"What are you-" Evaris breathed through his nose. He began sniffing around in the air. He tilted his head. "You. . . shut off my sense of smell?"

Jinx pursed her lips. "I figured I could fry whatever part of your brain controls smell."

He continues taking deep breaths with a dull look on his face. ". . . it's annoying. Well played." He complemented. He whips his guns up, opening fire.

A grappling shot wrapped around Jinx, pulling her back into the bushes to dodge the hits. Smoke pellets hit around the whole area, obscuring everything.

Evaris sighs. "The bird saves the cat." He snickers. "But the dog won't give up. I'll sniff you out-" He realizes he has no sense of smell. "FUCK!"

Jinx and Robin regroup. Robin examines her. "Thanks." She mutters. "That bastard's cheap as hell." Robin nods. He looks down as he takes off his belt. Jinx turns red. "Um. . . I'm with Raven, and you're not my type."

His scowl shuts her up. He hands her his belt. "None of my weapons are going to work. Not while they're in my hands. If he's gonna be changing his weapons up, you're going to need an arsenal."

Jinx lit up in curiosity, checking each of the pockets frantically. "Sweet! Where's the good stuff?"

"They're not toys."

Jinx grins at him. "They're still gonna be fun. Show me where everything's at."

Evaris glanced around. Nothing. He couldn't find her. _Heh. If this was back in my day, I'd hire that broad. _His smile turned to a frown. _I've bet my life countless times. . . I won't lose to some pink haired piece of meat bag. _

. . . . .

_D.O.C., the Demon of Organized Crime. He obtained that nickname as his name spread. Gangs tried countless times to take what he'd gained. What had he gained? Territory. Jobs. People under his employ? No, employ wasn't the right word. Each person who worked for him was a bet. A person who lost to him, and now they owed their life to him. _

_He amassed power, influence, women. . . he had quite a bit. He had complete control of entire cities for the underworld. Some whole states and even an African country was under his full influence. _

_He had a decision to make. Go through with the plan, or turn it around. The plan had been to organize and control the corruption of the entire planet, gain everyone in the world as an ally or slave. Then? Simply integrate them with the Church of Blood's plan to summon Trigon with no resistance. _

_But another option was there. One with far sweeter rewards. It was all too tempting. _

"_Aye, boss." A gruff voice called. "Some wanker is waiting outside askin' for ya." Evaris looked up at Brick, the first muscle and right hand man he received in his exploits. _

_The silver haired mob boss glanced up. "They seek me? That's new. Is he on our list of people of interest?" Brick shakes his head. Evaris's voice drops, losing curiosity. "Then send them away. I don't have time for a no name." _

_The door opened without warning. Some new guy walked in, burning red hair, orange eyes, khaki pants, and black shirt. The man smirked when his gaze fell upon Evaris. Brick scowled as two other members stepped up to intercept this stranger. Suddenly, red tendrils of energy whip out, gripping both their necks and tossing them away._

This put everyone on edge. Some of his nonpowered thugs opened fire. No one entered the personal club of Evaris the Demon of Organized Crime! However, a red energy coating appears, deflecting all the bullets as the man continued to simply step up to Evaris's table, not even flinching.

_The fire stopped, leaving a deafening silence. Evaris looked up with one uncovered eye. NOW, his curiosity was peaked. . . but he's also more than a little pissed off. "May I help you." He mutters impatient. "My boys are precious resources to me. Damage any more, and I'll have to ask you for. . . compensation." _

_The young looking man stood silence. He couldn't be any older than 17. Maybe that's why he was so cocky. The man looked Evaris with a gaze that held a great deal of experience. No, this kid wasn't cocky. He knew what he got into. That meant this could only be one man that Evaris could think of. "Does the name Scath mean anything to you?" _

_He used that name? Only the Church uses that name, so maybe it isn't who he thought it was. "I have nothing to do with that name anymore. You're from the Church? Lemme guess, you're the new Blood?" _

_The kid chuckled almost inhumanly. "Not even close." The kid's eyes were replaced with four brimson eyes. Evaris's knuckles tightened. Yep, he knew who this was, and he didn't give a damn either way whether he ever had to meet him or not. _

_Still, an entrance like that was entertaining at least. Evaris laughed. "I've heard of you, brother. . . Wolf." _

_The kid frowns slightly. "I prefer Zane." _

_Evaris knew what he was here about, and it couldn't be more pointless. Evaris smirked, knowing his decision about his. . . loyalties. "I'm Evaris. You don't need to lecture me about quitting Trigon's ambitions. Already done. Now, please go. I have plans to make." _

_Wolf's eyebrow raised in question, but he accepted it. He nodded and turned to leave. "Guess I'll see you at the family reunion." _

_Evaris smirked. "Even I wouldn't bet on that." His goal was set. He'd do what Wolf was too scared to do. He'd fight father directly. . . The ultimate bet. _

_The only one he'd ever lost._

_. . . . . _

Evaris glared ahead. _I will never lose again! _He tilted his head to the left, a bird-a-rang missing by centimeters. He turned to see Robin, smirking at him. Evaris sighed. "Humans. . . never learn."

He then heard another thrown object, but his body didn't automatically react like with Robin. He tried to duck, but a second bird-a-rang came from behind, slashing his shoulder. He grunts in pain. Jinx came from behind, now sporting Robin's belt. She throws two of Robin's explosive disks. Evaris ducks backwards, dodging the disks easily Matrix style.

However, a pink spark appeared on both disks as they passed over him. "What?" He mutters before they both explode, the hit blasting him flat into the ground.

Jinx charges, pulling out Robin's staff. She extends it out and swings down at the demon. Evaris glows yellow as the animal fox head bites onto the staff, ripping it from Jinx's hand. The fox recedes back into Evaris, whose guns turn back into the brass knuckles. Jinx dodges back, the fist missing by inches as she cartwheels backwards away from him.

He punches the ground, sending a yellow hex style attack that knocks her off balance mid flip. Before she even gets up to her knees, he closes the gap. He prepares to bring his fist down on her. She quickly uses Robin's grappling hook, firing it between his legs. It pulls her across the ground, between the demon's legs as his fist hits the ground. The power smashes the dirt and rock where she had been apart.

She rolls to her feet. Her thoughts go a mile a minute. _I was able to hex his fox power before. I should be able to hex his weapon too! _She charges a hex as he whips around, throwing a punch. The moment her palm touches the brass knuckle, the weapon sparks yellow and pink before dissipating. _YES! _She cheers mentally. However, his fist keeps going, plowing into her palm, pushing through, and hitting her in the gut. She's knocked away, hard, rolling across the ground violently.

She stops herself, clutching her gut and gasping for air. Evaris stops, looking at his vacant hand. The knuckle appears again on his fist. He glances at Jinx with a smile. "Congratulations. You can cancel and shut down my power. However, I'm still a demon. My physical strength and ability is still going to power through and beat you."

Jinx scrambled to her feet,her legs shaking as she stands. Despite the pain, she grins. "Well, aren't you lucky."

"I am." He says smugly.

She frowns. _So if I do the only thing I can, he'll just power through me with regular means. If our powers clash at the same time, we simply cancel. Option 1, he damages me. Option 2, nothing is accomplished. _She sighs, straightening herself. _That leaves option 3. . . _

Evaris snickered. "Nothing to say? None of your quick whit or insults?" Nothing came as her gaze still looked at the ground. "Fine then. I'll be sure to end your life mercifully if you stand perfectly still." His foot dug into the ground and kicked off, charging. He approached, the pink hair comer closer. _She's going to counter my luck with hers, then try to avoid my attack. I'm sure she has some trick ready. _He closed the distance, getting only a few feet away. She still looked straight down. _Come on! This attack can't kill you. Show me more. Show me your luck. _

His fist, and all the power behind it, crashes into her gut. A loud boom sounds, accompanied by the sound of cracking bones. Jinx's body hunches over the fist as she chokes up blood. The force knocks her hair out from her signature horns. He was shocked he hit her that easily.

Evaris looks wide eyed. "Th-. . . that's it?"

Jinx looks up with glowing pink eyes. Her palm slaps right over his heart. _Option 3. . . trade blows and hope mine hits harder. _"Not your lucky day" She chokes out.

Her power pumps into his body, his body being left open from shock, as he's engulfed in a massive pink hex. He screams in pain as everything is hit. His organs stop. All blood flow stops, meaning the brain will now slowly die. His nervous system stops. His body is hit with concussive force.

The hex stops, leaving a battered and bruised Evaris. Blood drips from his eyes, ears, and mouth as he falls back, his body making a loud thud on the ground. His brass knuckles fade and form into the necklace around his neck.

Jinx wobbles in place. Her breath heavily strains. "Ra. . . ven" She falls forward, hitting the ground beside Evaris.

"JINX!" Robin slides to her side. His first thought is checking her. He scowls. "Oh, no. . ."

Jinx's eyes glances at Evaris, barely conscious. "k-ill. . Hi-m."

Robin is surprised. He looks at Evaris. Sure enough, his thumb twitches. Robin scowls, pulling his belt off Jinx, putting it on, and throwing a disk into him. He quickly moves Jinx away as the disk beeps, about to explode.

Evaris stares straight up into the sky, unable to do anything at all.

_. . . . ._

_Everyone died. Everything was gone. His empire. . . his wealth. . . his power. All of it crumbled in one massive battle. _

_Evaris laid, dying. He could only say one thing in disbelief. . . _

_. . . . . _

His body choked out. "I. . . lost?" The disk exploded, taking him with it.

Robin shields Jinx, her eyes clouding over. She looks to the side, seeing the cross necklace. She choked up some blood, chuckling. She weakly grabbing it. "A lucky charm."

Robin scowls, pulling out his communicator. "Cyborg?! Cyborg?! Come in!"

Cy's voice came in. "Yeah, man, what's going on?"

Robin yells into the comm. "I need you at my position now. Prepare for some surgery." He looked at Jinx, whose body was still, but she breathed weakly.

"What happened?!" Both Cyborg and, was that Red X? Nevermind that now.

Robin called out. "We took down a demon. . . well, Jinx did, but if you don't get here now, she's as good as dead."

Cyborg's voice came in. "On my way!" He cut out.

Robin sighs, closing his comm. He looked at Jinx. He looked in the distance, seeing the center of the crater far away. The spell circle's location was now a large spire. He could still see flashes coming from the top. Raven was fighting. He looked back the Jinx. _She won't make it if I wait for Cyborg. _. .

A howl caught his attention. He looked to the woods, seeing a faint red glow. The pats of paws were heard as a red wolf came out. It slowly walked, limping a bit as it faded every few seconds. The wolf had four red eyes before looking down at Jinx.

Robin frowned. It seems Zane sent the wolf, but how did he- "She won't make it. . ." He admits to the wolf.

The spirit animal whined, its noises echoing through the area. It suddenly jerked up, looking at Robin before tilting its head in the direction it came.

Robin's brow quirked. "You need me to bring Jinx?"

The wolf howled before turning and going at a slightly fast pace. Robin scowled, quickly pulling Jinx up and taking her. He moves through woods, carrying her on his back, piggy back style. He rushes at top speed, breaking from the woods into the crater. Eventually, he came to a cleared flat wasteland, not even rubble or broken rocks.

The wolf went far ahead of him until slowing down. The wolf whined before fading away completely. Robin got to where it stood, his eyes widening.

There. . . a puddle of blood. . . the redhead laid, unable to move. The right half of his jacket gone, the left half hooked on by the left sleeve. Wounds all over. His eyes were shut.

Robin quickly rushes over to him, but then remembers his voice over the comm._ "I WON'T BE 'ZANE' FOR MUCH LONGER, NOW GO!"_ Robin halts. He cautiously asks. "Is that you, Zane? Or are you Wolf?"

The redhead opens his eyes, giving a dry chuckle. . .

**Next time, Wolf vs Zane. Brothers by blood and body. **


	22. Chapter 22

"_How do you describe this feeling? Some might say loss, but. . ."_

"_No, I know where what I've lost is."_

_An empty void. Black space fills the background. A single man in view. Red hair with his bangs covering his eyes. He stood at an edge. Behind him extended a massive earthen bridge to a floating island, a faint red in the distance. A portal to his inner psyche. _

_He just stood there as a chunk of the bridge cracked off, falling into nothing. "Day in and day out. It seems our essences were fused more than I thought with each day." _

_Directly in front of him was nothing but a void. However. . . _

_. . . . . _

_The black haired man's posture mimicked the redhead's. He stood on the bridge, the half missing. Behind him was the same as well, feint orange instead. His voice was more normal. More controlled. "I never thought how bonded we'd become, sharing the same body. This feeling. . . This absence." _

_The scene seemed to reflect, showing the redhead once more. "With us apart. This world-" The bridge cracked. _

_The black haired man unknowingly finished the sentence as part of the bridge of his mind shattered as well. "Is rotting." _

_. . . . ._

The two stood apart, glaring at one another with two sets of crimson eyes. The ground rumbled slightly as rocks cracked. A red circle outline of swirling energy rotated around Wolf. An orange one appeared around Zane. The two circles expanded until clashing, causing lightning like crackles between them.

Wolf unbuttoned the top part of his blue and black jacket, letting the sides drape outward. He wore a white shirt underneath.

Zane left his black duster open, wearing a gray shirt and black pants.

Zane smirked at Wolf's frown. "Its funny."

Wolf's eyes narrowed, accompanied with a throaty growl. "May I ask what?"

Zane placed a hand on his head, holding it out to see the height. "It only took about 800 years for us the be the same height."

Wolf growled. ". . ."

"So shameful to be the older brother and be as short as a ten year old."

Wolf sighed. "Well, I can tell where our smart ass came from."

A low rumble came over the area. Bother brothers looked to see a black hole appear over a battlefield before disappearing. Zane sighed. "Guess the other battles are getting under way."

Wolf looks the other way, seeing the dome of green. "Lyzza's about to run wild."

A shock wave was felt by both, Zane looking past Wolf to see a massive yellow and pink sparking clash. "Evaris too."

Wolf looked to the center of the crater. Nothing, yet. "Raven hasn't started her fight with Blood." He then paid slightly more attention to her location. "Slade's there."

Zane rushes the distracted Wolf, slamming a fist into the elder child's jaw. Wolf's head whips to the side. His body is forced back, but keeps his footing and skids to a halt. Wolf slowly turns his head to Zane, wiping the blood dripping from his mouth. Zane smirked. "I hate to start first, but even I have some pride. You really want the two eldest children to start last?"

Wolf chuckles before a wide sadistic smile appears. "Good point. But wait! I have a rebuttal." A quick flash from his hand turned into a massive red wave.

The wave seemingly engulfs Zane, continuing off and creating a massive trench. The ground then glowed orange before erupting below Wolf's feet. The area blows outward in a plume of smoke.

Up above, Zane glares down, seemingly standing on nothing. He holds his arms out, controlling the land below. He folds the rocky earth on Wolf's position. Whipping his arms up, various boulders lift, coated in orange power. The rocks mold and are crushed into the desired shapes by force, turning into pointed pins.

The pins shoot in, skewering the pile of rock containing the elder brother. The mass then glows orange altogether. Zane holds one hand out and clenches it, the pile crushing inward.

However, the debris clears, Wolf floating in place with a red shield around him completely unharmed. "Raven tried that before, remember?" Wolf smirks, charging his power. He launches the new attack up.

Zane smirks. "I know." The attack seemingly hits before an orange coating appears around the red, condensing it. The blast shrinks down into an intense swirl of power in Zane's hands. "We also did this to Raven."

Wolf's eyes widen. _Fuck. I forgot that ability was his. _Zane Launched the blast with his own power added. Wolf clenches his teeth in a grunt, his power becoming a massive dome shield to block the attack head on.

The attack lands, clashing with the shield. Above, an orange mass of power engulfs Zane, much like Raven's would do to her. Inside the shield, the energy appears, releasing Zane right in front of Wolf. His fist connects with Wolf's jaw. The elder son moves his body with the hit, spinning and elbowing Zane in the side. The younger son skids back, stunned.

The dome over them blocks the remainder of the attack outside before disappearing. Zane uplifts the land, creating a storm of rocks and earth before launching the whirling masses at Wolf. Wolf tries to channel his power before his eyes widen. _Can't teleport either. That was his, too. _His hands glow red as he blasts the ground below him, propelling him into the sky over the tornado of land and dodging the attack.

The tornado of orange glowing land redirects around, Wolf turns to see it coming. However, a second one lifted up from the other side. Wolf scowled. He dropped under the first one. He dashed to the side to dodge the second. The first wheeled around again as Wolf soared over it. The second turns and gives chase.

Both twist around Wolf like snakes and end up on each side of him. He throws each hand out to one side, launching massive blasts both ways and destroying both twisters.

The destroyed debris hovered a moment. The dust clouds condensed into whips of dirt, wrapping around Wolf's arms. Wolf growled as he prepared to rip free, but didn't get time as the dirt pulled him forward. Zane sped in, twisting around feet first and drop kicking the defenseless Wolf away, launching the alpha male into the ground below. Zane flew down after him as Wolf got up from a small crater.

He closed the distance, throwing a punch, but Wolf tilts his head last second to dodge, planting his knee into Zane's gut. The younger brother stumbles back, but Wolf grabs his arm and throws him up and over his shoulder, attempting to slam him into the ground. Zane coats with orange energy, teleporting out of Wolf's grip. Zane seemingly appears from the ground in a hand stand, a kick connecting with Wolf's cheek.

Zane and Wolf each recover, twisting around and doing a round house kick. The two kicks smack into each other, orange and red energy crackling off the attacks. The brothers frown, Zane pulling back and teleporting again.

He appears behind Wolf, coming face to face with Wolf's hand as he's blasted back into his energy, teleporting him back in front of Wolf. The redhead kicks the downed brunette away. He smiles gleefully, becoming a giant spectral red wolf with four crimson eyes. The wolf charges Zane.

The younger brother scowls before a wave of orange engulfs him. A massive bear of orange forms as the wolf tackles it, biting down on the animal's neck. The bear roars in anger, biting the wolf's midsection and lifting it up. The bear slams the wolf into the ground with a massive tremor shaking the ground. Downed, the wolf separates into an entire pack of wolves. They circle the bear, attacking from all directions. The bear roars, trying to free itself, but each of the wolves gets a biting grip before glowing more intensely. The bear's four eyes widen. _Kamikaze. _The whole wolf pack glow and explode on the bear from all sides.

The bear is wiped out from the explosions, Zane rocketing out from the debris. He lands on the ground, visibly hurt now. Wolf speeds out from ground zero, speeding towards his brother. Zane holds his ground, catching Wolf's coming fist, lifting Wolf up and over before planting the elder son into the ground with a shaking thud.

Wolf grabs Zane before he can get away, whipping him around into the ground beside him, causing a crater from the hit. Zane twists body, gripping Wolf's arm and pulling him down into an arm bar.

Wolf winces in pain as Zane tightens the hold, until Wolf's hand opens up, a red glow coming from his hand and pointed at Zane's face. He releases the grip, kicking the arm up as the red blast is redirected harmlessly into the sky. Both brothers roll to their feet, attempting to sweep the others' footing out. The two sweep kicks hit each other, halting. Once again, it's accompanied by a red and orange crackle of power.

Both brothers throw their arms out at the other. Wolf launches a beam point black. Zane's power halts the beam, attempting to gain control of it and launch it back. Their hands only half a foot apart, the clash nearly throws them both away. This enters the two into a point blank beam struggle.

The glow of red and orange intensifies, blinding the entire area to nothing but the glowing light and the vague silhouettes of the two brothers.

The result was a pretty good imitation of the first test for an atomic bomb. The blasts explode, creating a massive plume of smoke and debris.

High in the sky, the air lifted dust moved around Zane. His duster had the left sleeve blown off, the other blown to a short sleeve. The lower half of the overcoat was ripped off. His pants had similar damages. Blood trickled down his face and down his exposed left arm.

The crater cleared, showing Wolf, glaring up. He had a sadistic smile, blood from the mouth and bruised all over. The right half of his jacket was blown off. His shirt mostly shredded. His jacket clung on by the left sleeve.

Within a flash, Wolf blasts into the sky with a trail of red energy. Zane barely catches his charging brother, tossing him away, into the hanging dust cloud. The cloud disperses violently as a red beam fires back at Zane.

The brunette waves his hand at the blast, catching it out of the air and condensing the beam into a ball. He didn't the chance to use it, however. Wolf appears from the smoke behind him, punching the son of sloth, launching him away. Zane's orange energy engulfs him mid flight as he teleports above Wolf, whipping a kick into Wolf's guard, knocking him back.

Zane brings out the ball of energy he stole and fires the beam back at the originator. The new orange beam is split down the middle by a stream of red. Zane's eyes widen as Wolf's fist rips into his gut. Wolf frowns as another Zane appears behind him, smirking. _Clones. . . another ability of his. _The impaled Zane turns to orange energy, wrapping around the redhead like bindings.

Zane flew at the bound demon of wrath, hooking him in the jaw. Then elbowing his temple. Kneeing the gut. Unleashing a barrage of hits on the elder brother. Wolf growls as red energy bursts out, summoning a pack of red wolves that fly after Zane. He teleports between them, kicking the odd ones away and keeping his distance.

Wolf flies back, glaring at his orange coating. He growls like a dog, glowing red before ripping the bindings off. Zane kicks another wolf away, not noticing their master appear behind him. Wolf's arms wrap around his younger brother from behind, gripping and holding him still. Wolf takes control of their flight and rockets the two straight down to the rocky earth below.

PILEDRIVER! Wolf lets go just before Zane rockets into the ground head first. Wolf rights himself, stepping into a steady stance.

Zane gets up, looking dazed as if he just woke up from a 12 hour night sleep. He rights himself, rubbing his neck. He then charges his power before orange pours out of him and forms five copied. Zane smirks. "Deal with this."

Wolf purses his lips. "Like you came up with this idea. We shared a body. We watched anime two nights ago."

Zane shrugs with an easy going smirk, despite the four red eyes. "Why not use a good idea? Believe it."

The five new Zanes rush Wolf. The one behind him, he simply blasts off hand. The second jump kicks from the side, but Wolf spins in place, grabbing the kick and tossing him into the third on the other side. The two from the front close on him, unleashing a hail of punches that Wolf easily parries before knocking them to each side of him. He punches one, then kicks the other. Then turns to elbow the first, then turn and palm strike the second again. The two Zane are knocked back before recovering. The four clones rush in from all sides.

Wolf jumps up as they close in, spinning in the air and kicking each one. The Zanes are all knocked away and disappear. Wolf lands flawlessly. . . that went too well. He looks up, frowning. _A distraction. . . fuck. _A mass of orange glowing rock smashes into him from above, imprinting him deep into the ground.

Above, the real Zane clenches his teeth in effort as he flattens the ground on top of Wolf, trapping him in the earth. The landscape turns orange as he holds it still.

Wolf's voice sounds as a muffled roar. Suddenly, the ground splits down the middle in crimson red. The ground pushes apart from the split, Wolf's scream in rage piercing into the sky. He pushes the orange earth apart with raw force, glaring up at Zane.

Zane looked dully down. "Some might say all wrath is is rage."

Wrath growls before a smile. "Rage isn't nearly as much fun." He blasts up from the ground closing the distance and punching Zane in the gut. He grabs the younger brother's ankle and whips him down into the ground, hard. He speeds down, giving chase.

Just before his next hit lands, Zane teleports. Wolf's fist buries into the ground. Zane appears to the side, foot planting into his brother's face.

Wolf skids to a halt, growling. Zane lectures. "The problem with wrath is it's rarely controlled. You lack vision." Wolf growls as he charges, but orange energy grips him by the foot, whipping him away. Zane continues. "You'd see half my attacks coming if we were still one."

Wolf rockets back in, forcing his body to move faster than before. Zane brings up the ground between them to block, but Wolf, mimicking Kid Flash almost, dashes around it, ending up behind Zane. He brings both arms down onto Zane's back, launching him through the barrier he just made. It was Wolf's turn to lecture. "If we were still one, your attacks would use all your power. Your own personality limits you." He closes the distance before Zane recovers. Wolf's hands grip Zane's head, bringing it down onto Wolf's knee. Wolf maintains his grip, kneeing him a second and third time, the third knocking him away. "The problem with sloth is that you lack conviction to your actions."

Zane recovers mid air, righting himself and holding his head. "Guess that's why we were so strong together. We HAD no overall weakness."

Wolf nodded, gathering power for his next attack before eyes widening.

. . . . .

The device ignites as a familiar black orb appears. Half of Gula's body is engulfed in the black from the device.

. . . . .

Wolf's head looks to the side. He sensed the power disappear in an instant. "Gula's dead."

Zane's shock is apparent. He looks in that direction as well. "That's too bad. However, for our plan to succeed, it was necessary." He looks back to Wolf. The redhead's face was now in the opposite direction.

. . . . .

X appears at the top, looking down at her. "Do I need to say it?" He holds up a detonator. . . and presses the button.

She thinks to herself. _X marks the sp- _The explosion shook the ground as a plume of fire and smoke erupts from the hole. Red X stands in front of the flames, not moving an inch as the shock wave blasts his cape back. The flame dies out as smoke bellows from the hole. Red X turns slowly and walks towards the other three.

. . . . .

Wolf says in a small voice. "There goes Lyzza. . ."

Zane was once more shocked. "The Titans are stronger than we ever hoped for then." Zane then focused on Wolf. "And Evaris?"

Wolf looked over his shoulder.

. . . . .

Her power pumps into his body as he's engulfed in a massive pink hex. He screams in pain as everything is hit. His organs stop. All blood flow stops, meaning the brain will now slowly die. His nervous system stops. His body is hit with concussive force.

. . . . .

Wolf mutters. "He just took someone out. . . but he lost in the process."

Zane solemnly speaks. "You're the one able to sense life forces. Who's on the death bed?"

Wolf sensed the different battlefields. There was a standard human life force at Lyzza and Evaris's locations. Robin and Red X. He noticed a demon level power, another child of Trigon, at Gula's former location. "Robin and Red X are at Lyzza and Evaris's locations. Deliza showed up at Gula's."

Zane nodded. "She'll be pissed that she had to take the time to help."

Wolf continued. A life force exactly half that of a regular human, and one that constantly shifted levels of power. Cyborg and Beast Boy. Both at Gula's location. Another life force, significantly higher than a regular person. Their power radiated from them and the environment around them, Terra. "Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Terra all at Gula's location as well."

Zane nodded. His body was compelled under Blood's orders to go ahead and attack Wolf while he's distracted, but having been a part of him. . . he wanted to know who was where. Natural curiosity. He used all his willpower to keep himself still for the moment.

Wolf sensed more from Lyzza's location. Two above average life forces. Very powerful. And another above average power. The two identical ones were obviously Starfire and Blackfire. _When did Blackfire change battles? _He pushed the thought back. The third power was. . . unstable. Constantly jumping, vibrating almost, from human level to levels far beyond. Kid Flash. "No. . ." Wolf slowly lowered himself to the ground, merely a a dozen yards, maybe, away from Zane.

Zane tilted his head. "What is it?"

Wolf's head snapped back to Evaris's location. _That means the person dying. . . no. . . _"FUCK! Not Jinx!"

Zane's eyes widened in shock. "But- but. . . She's vital to the plan! Without her, Raven can't do the ritual!"

Wolf clenches his teeth in anger. _NO! NO no no no no! _

Zane interrupted his thoughts. "Transferring life force." Wolf looks up at him. Zane continues. "Remember? We did it to Arella. Angela Roth. We kept her alive so she could use a spell. That's how she got the chance to give her last words to Raven."

Wolf looked at the ground, his voice low and carrying anger. "That would keep Jinx alive love enough for Cyborg to save her. . . or at least long enough to carry out the ritual. Just one problem." He looked back to Zane. "It's one of your abilities. Just like a lot of tricks from you I've taken for granted over the last few centuries."

Zane even forgot that. His body trembled, attempting to follow Blood's orders and kill Wolf. "My body's being forced to attack. As much as I've enjoyed seeing which of us is the stronger half, this fight's going to have to end now."

Wolf nodded. "One more attack. That's all I need." His feet dug into the ground as he channeled power.

Zane got ready to charge. "As long as I attack. . . I'll be satisfying the command. I'll leave you an opening."

Wolf nodded before clutching the side of his head in light pain.

. . . . .

_The landscape crumbled. Yet another chunk of rock cracked from the floating island. The redhead floated in place. Below him was the center of the crumbling bridge. He examined the center. . . a massive spell circle. He'd seen it a million times, so many times that he forgot certain details of it. For what he had in mind, he needed to re-memorize it. _

_. . . . . _

Zane powers up, his orange power forming into the massive bear form. It roared as Wolf simply stood there. _Wait for an opening. . . _

The bear attacked, it's jaws and teeth clamped down on the teenage looking demon with no resistance. The bear's front canines sunk into the teen who still stood still, the teeth piercing through his torso.

Wolf coughed blood, but remained calm. He glared straight ahead. His left arm and most of his chest were in the mouth of the bear. His right arm was still free. Red energy charged into his arm before he punched the hand into the bear's form.

All sound stopped. The orange bear slowly began to recede. It's teeth dissipating, leaving open wounds on Wolf's chest. The animal dissolved as the orange energy formed into a blank faced Zane, Wolf's right arm having pierced through his ribs, into his body.

The two stood for a moment, eyes locked. Zane's four eyes blink, becoming two orange eyes. Both children begin to glow. . . The spell circle inside the two's minds appeared on each of their backs. Wolf spoke simply. "Get back in my body."

Zane smiled. "Phrasing. . ."

The glow intensified as the entire area lit.

. . . . .

Robin's brow quirked. "You need me to bring Jinx?" 

The wolf howled before turning and going at a slightly fast pace. Robin scowled, quickly pulling Jinx up and taking her. He moves through woods, carrying her on his back, piggy back style. He rushes at top speed, breaking from the woods into the crater. Eventually, he came to a cleared flat wasteland, not even rubble or broken rocks.

The wolf went far ahead of him until slowing down. The wolf whined before fading away completely. Robin got to where it stood, his eyes widening.

There. . . a puddle of blood. . . the redhead laid, unable to move. The right half of his jacket gone, the left half hooked on by the left sleeve. Wounds all over. His eyes were shut.

Robin quickly rushes over to him, but then remembers his voice over the comm._ "I WON'T BE 'ZANE' FOR MUCH LONGER, NOW GO!"_ Robin halts. He cautiously asks. "Is that you, Zane? Or are you Wolf?"

The redhead opens his eyes, giving a dry chuckle. . .

Robin settled when he saw two content orange eyes. "I prefer Zane, but use whichever you like. I figured it would be Red X coming. Guess I was wrong." Robin nodded, rushing towards him, Jinx in tow. Zane looked at the pinkette on his back. "Lay her down."

Robin did so. "What are you going to do?"

Zane chuckled, coughing up blood as his body stressed. "Something stupid, I assure you." Jinx was put on her back directly beside Zane. He weakly moved his arm up, placing it at the center of her chest. "Hope Raven doesn't think I'm groping her. Would be a bitch to explain if she would go as far as to resurrect me to make me explain myself."

Robin could instantly tell the way he was talking. "What are you doing, Zane?"

The redhead smirked. "I'm nearly dead. I could recover just like last time, but this can't wait. We need Jinx. MY survival isn't necessary to our plan."

Robin didn't know how to respond. "But you-"

"I've lived nine centuries, both as a demon AND human." He smirked as his hand glowed red and orange on Jinx.

"And Raven? What about her?" Robin asks.

Zane's smirk falls completely. "Had this situation never come up, she would never have met me. She has a family."

Robin nods. The energy begins to pour from Zane's body into Jinx's. "Any last words?"

The life in his orange eyes fogs out. He smirks. "I went wrath and sloth at the same time, so I feel accomplished." He chuckles at his inside 'wrath' joke before ending up in pain. "Just tell Raven not to be ashamed or hate her demonic side. Someday she'll have full control, and it'll be a part of her. In fact." He smirked. "Tell her to be totally pride."

The energy poured into Jinx with a final flash. With a last shudder, his body gave out. Robin looked down to Jinx's body. She caught his attention with a loud gasp for air. Robin sighed. He turned his head to see Beast Boy in the distance, carrying Cyborg as a pterodactyl.

However, what he felt next didn't make him feel good. A tremor caught his attention as he eyed the spire at the center of the crater. A blackened red and purple pulse came out. . . the sky above flashed a sickly green color. He saw a large flash appear at the spire.

This fight's far from over.


	23. Chapter 23

**_Apologies about the little late release for this chapter. Friend's birthday weekend last week, so basically went over there every single night. Set me back slightly. Anyway! Enjoy._**

_Knock Knock. . . _

_Just ignore it. It'll go away. The girl kept on working, looking through a book, a pen and paper beside it. She stops reading to take some notes. _

_Knock Knock. . . _

_Whoever it is can blow it out their ass. She keeps working. Oh? The answer is-_

_Knock Knock. . . _

_And it's gone forever. The girl growls in frustration before trudging to the door, opening it up to a yellow hallway. One disadvantage to being in the HIVE? Well, working with nothing but thieves and criminals, there is never a possible fraction of a sense of privacy. The pink eyed girl glares at the large hairy teen that was knocking. "Tell Gizmo I'm not playing his games. I have work, so go away." _

_She slams the door before the large teen can talk, walking back to her desk in the generic room. But-_

_Knock Knock. . . _

"_UGH!" She opens the door, visibly fuming. "Can I help you?" _

_Mammoth shrugs. "All students are goin' to the auditorium. Don't know why." _

_Jinx tilts her head, curious. "All? Even those on jobs and stuff?" He nods. That never happens. She nods back and follows him, the two eventually ending up in a large hexagonal room, decorated in yellow. _

_The room was packed, and everyone was there. She looked to find Angel and Kyd Wykkyd. Near them was Private Hive. Hundreds of students that were, in her opinion, completely unremarkable filled the room. They all simply looked at a center stage. "What's going on?" A voice cut into Jinx's observation. _

_She turned to see a black teen roughly her age in a bee outfit. Jinx's eye lids half closed. She hated talking to this girl. "Does it look like I know, Bumblebee?" She couldn't tell why. Bumblebee seemed nice and all. Jinx just couldn't shake the feeling that making any connection with her would be pointless. Like it wouldn't be real. Oh well. _

_The teens are all quieted as an older teacher steps to a mic. "Attention students. Some of you may be wondering why you are here. This was a last minute assembly, and as such, that means this information is important for you to hear." _

_A voice came from across the large warehouse sized room. "Someone finally axed those crud munchin' Titans?!" _

_Jinx deflated. "Not too hard to tell where he is." _

_The teacher on stage shook their head. "Quite the opposite." The woman seemed to sigh. "It would seem that an assassination has taken place. Our headmaster has been killed."_

_The room filled with a collective gasp. Jinx just stared in disbelief. Bumblebee was likewise stunned, but managed to speak. "I didn't think that was something someone could get away with." _

_The crowd grumbled and talked amongst itself a moment. Many people asking if the students would be assigned to find the killer. The teach shook her head. "No. In our line of work, we make enemies. When we make enemies, we take it upon ourselves to remain vigilant. We will not sacrifice manpower to get revenge for someone who failed to do so." The voices quieted down. The teach began again. "Rather, we are here today to announce the new headmaster."  
_

_Mammoth tilted his head. "New headmaster?"_

_Jinx wondered out loud. "Someone who's skilled and has a standing to teach us has to be pretty famous. . ." _

"_Deadshot?" Mammoth guessed. _

_Bumblebee shook her head. "Won't be a merc. Has to be a big one that plans stuff out." She thought to herself. "Lex Luther?" _

_Jinx answered that guess. "No. He controls everything himself personally. He isn't going to spend time teaching others." _

_Suddenly, a man walked onto the stage. He was older, gray haired, and dressed in slightly religious clothing. He held a nice air around him, but something unsettled Jinx. The man smiled. "Hello, students. I am your new headmaster. My name is Brother Blood." _

_Really? Some old man was their new main teacher? Jinx could see Bee's face scrunch a bit in an unrecognizable expression. Guess Jinx wasn't the only one unsettled. _

_Blood continued. "I trust all of you will realize your full potential, and I hope to be here for a very," His eyes glow red. "VERY long time." _

_Her vision clouded a moment as she clutched her head. Jinx mutters out. "What the fu-" _

_. . . . ._

Blood stood beside the glowing circle, eying the Scath stone in the center. "Ah, to have come so far." He smirked, taking in his surroundings. "To go from a humble priest, to an accomplished teacher, to a herald of change." He grins wide, looking between the four different battles starting in different directions. "Soon, I'll go from there to being the most powerful being on this planet once I take Azerall's power. To go from the head priest of an archaic cult to being the shining GOD of a new order. I wonder if that's how Trigon felt."

"If that's true, you'll soon feel what it's like for a god to die." A cool voice caught Blood's attention. The elder priest turned to see a man with a half orange mask. "If Trigon failed to conquer this planet, you'll fail miserably."

Blood smirked. "Oh, I do miss these chats. Tell me, how do you plan to stop me, Slade."

The ex mercenary chuckled. "Simple." He took a stance, wielding a massive halberd. "Face to face."

Blood shook his head. "I may not have my gifts from Trigon anymore, but I have more than enough power now to wipe you out." He holds his hand up with a purple and black crackle. A massive blast fires, seemingly engulfing Slade entirely. "Goodbye."

Satisfied, he turns away from the debris cloud. "That was cute." Slade's voice cut through Blood's ears. The priest turns around, immediately bringing up some of his power to block the massive glowing halberd blade. The attack bashes Blood away.

Blood rolls to his feet skidding to a halt. "How did you survive that?"

"My, my. You think you're the only one to benefit from aligning with Trigon?" Slade holds up his halberd, the blade burning red and orange. "Some gifts are more practical than others, of course." He holds up his left hand, showing a small ring.

Blood's gaze narrows. "Impossible. Trigon destroyed the Ring of Azar." He could tell Slade was smiling behind that mask. Somehow.

"Why leave valuable resources broken? It may have taken a while, but I recovered the fragments. I repaired it." He chuckled. "Demonic powers are nearly nothing to me."

Blood glared, his image flickering to show him with blackened skin and fangs. His voice seemed to overlap with a deep one. "Let's test that."

Slade mocks him. "Let's hope I get an A."

The ground rumbles and begins to lift. Slade barely reacts, standing with complete confidence and composure as a large circle of land around them, 100 yards radius, rises upwards, creating a massive spire that decorates the center of the massive crater.

The spire comes to a sudden stop, Blood springing forward at Slade. Slade swings the ax side of his weapon. The swipe slashes through Blood's image. The mercenary's eye widens, picking his left foot up to avoid a sweep kick from the side. On one foot, he spins around, swinging the ax down. However, it only goes through the image of Blood, the old man flickering from existence with a grin.

The air around him turned into a darkened purple haze as various Brother Bloods appeared around him. "Ah, you see, just because that ring protected you from Trigon doesn't mean it'll save you from me." The Bloods all smirked. "Or the powers given to me by Azerall."

Slade looks around impassively. "Illusions?"

Blood chuckled. "Nothing of the sort. Everything you see if the product of your own mind." The ground seemed coated in blood, sticking to Slade's shoe.

Slade nodded. "You're in my head?" The Bloods all smile. Slade nods slightly. With a single lightning bolt movement, he punches to the side. The fist connects with Blood, the real one. The illusions around all flicker away as Blood jumps back, rubbing his jaw. Slade chuckles. "If it's all in my head, then it won't do you any good. I'm a master of mind games." Slade points his halberd at Blood.

Blood growls, blitzing directly at him. Blood halts just before reaching Slade, an illusion of him continuing forward and throwing a kick. Slade ignored the image, keeping track of Blood before the kick lands.

This illusion was solid! The kick whips Slade's head back. The illusion Blood sweeps Slade's legs out. The orange masked man, flips back away from Blood. "That illusion. . ."

Blood smirks. "All things have a technological method and magical method of being accomplished. I believe you were the one who used this little trick on Robin once?"

Slade blinked once in thought. "Why yes. The dust of my old mask contained nanobots that induced illusions so real they could be felt. I wasn't alive when that happened, but I heard Robin had an interesting time with that."

"The gifts of Azerall are quite unique, aren't they?" Blood gloated.

Several more Brother Blood's appeared from the air, charging the other villain. Slade remained composed, dodging the first punch and flipping one Brother into another. He ducks a kick from the side, sweeping out that Blood's remaining leg. He grabs the illusion and tosses it into the next. Three more attack from behind. Slade whips his halberd at them, but when he turns to them, they're gone. The second his halberd swing passes through the air, they reappear, knocking Slade back with multiple attacks.

Slade rolls to his feet, panting lightly. "Do you plan to actually attack me yourself?"

Blood's voice echoed from a crowd of illusions. "Would you?"

Slade thinks about it. "No, I wouldn't."

Blood appeared from his illusions, hands glowing a mix of red and purple. "Luckily for you, I'm determined not to follow your example." Blood gives a toothy grin. "I not usually up for this grunt work, but. . . there's always a certain satisfaction in doing it myself."

Slade quickly found himself on defense, dodging and blocking multiple attacks at the same time. The illusions were just as good if not better than the real thing. He soon lost track of the real one, taking a kick to the chest. He falls back and flips to his feet. However, the moment he looks up, a large blast approaches him.

Just before it hits, it's stopped as Blood is thrown away, the attack disappearing. The illusions all vanish as Blood is slammed across the ground, nearly falling off the edge of the cliff. Slade gets up, looking lazily to the air. Blood gets to his feet with a scowl. He looks up, narrowing his eyes. "I expected one of you sooner or later."

The violet haired teen floated down in front of Slade, hood up. Slade eyed her. "Well, I never would have expected one of you to actually stop a hit for me."

Violet eyes glared back at him. Raven muttered, hate clearly in her words. "Right now, my anger towards Blood is leagues above anything I felt towards you." She looked back to Blood. "As soon as he's gone, I'll go back to wishing you were dead."

Slade chuckled. "Have it your way. You're wanting to take this fight yourself?"

Raven's posture didn't change. "Am I stupid enough to trust you to only help?"

Slade faked looking away in thought. "No."

Raven stepped towards Blood, four crimson eyes. "Exactly." Her voice slightly growls. "I thought my brother took away all gifts from Trigon."

Blood grins. "Azerall's gifts are far more generous to me. Not only has he supplied me with all my abilities before, but I've been given more on top of that." Suddenly, Raven's senses are thrown off. She barely reacts as the air darkens and images of each of her siblings appear around her. Blood smirks before disappearing altogether.

This was her first time seeing them all as once, though she knew it was a mere illusion. _This must be why Slade was whipped back without Blood touching him._ She looked between them, seeing the man that she left Jinx and Robin to fight. "Evaris." She saw her blue haired sister. "Deliza." Then a grayish purple skinned fighter in pants. _He's the one Zane never came into contact with. _"Gula." Then the green haired demon. "Lyzza." She also saw the black haired demon with orange eyes. "The original Zane." Beside him was the redhead. The only one with four crimson eyes showing. "Making you just Wolf."

Raven's frown deepens before her hands glow black. She whips her left hand to the side as the energy lashes out, gripping on something. Within seconds, the illusions fade as Blood appears in the grip of her energy. The area returns to normal. "How?!"

Raven turns her head to him. "Not only do I have my own mental barriers against magic of this nature, I'm still an empath that can sense exactly where you are." Her glare narrows at him.

Blood shakes off the surprise look and replaces it with a cool smirk. "Yeah, you passed that test." He rips from her grip with a single spark of power before dusting himself off. An aura of dark purple comes off him as his eyes glow red. His image flickers and reveals a demonic form. Blackened skin, silver hair, and sharp canines. "Care to take this fight seriously? Maybe you'll learn a thing or two."

He blitzes towards her, taking her by surprise. He stops just before reaching her. She flinches back defensively, but his hand releases a blast point blank, launching Raven away. Raven halts herself mid air with Blood giving chase. She lashes at him with black energy talons. However, the talons rips through a flickering illusion, the real Blood blitzing around to her side. He throws a palm hit towards her as his power blasts her again.

Recovering, Raven charges back at Blood. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" The ground around Blood folds up, nearly crushing him as he leaps into the air. She meets him head on, throwing a punch, but he ducks and hooks his arm around her before launching her into the ground below.

He floats above. Another gift from Azerall. He smirks down at the cloud of uplifted dirt. The smirk is wiped off as black blasts up and wraps around his foot. He's reeled in like a fish into the ground, a large hit being heard from inside the mini cloud.

The spire rumbles and cracks. Several hundred feet below, Raven is blasted out the side of the towering earthen rock. She recovers in air, visibly battered and glaring at the hole in the rock. Blood steps from the hole with a grin. "I do hope you can keep fighting, Raven. I thought children of Trigon were made tougher than this."

Raven growled. "You want more? I have other abilities too." Blood tilted his head, confused. Raven scowled. "Did you forget Malchior taught me dark magic?" She throws both hands out, crackling with black energy as it blasts forward, engulfing Blood and half the width of the spire. "Necronom Hesberek Mortix!"

The energy begins to strain on Blood as the teacher screams in pain. The rock around him cracked apart, being crushed to dust. Blood composed himself, the black around him cracking as his own energy began to rip out. With a large grunt, Blood breaks the spell as a large hunk of rock cracks off the spire. He breaths lightly, but holds a smirk. "Dark magic is powerful, but demons and their abilities are something entirely different."

Raven grits her teeth. "Don't talk like you're a demon too. You're a human."

Blood frowns. "I'm not satisfied living as the bottom of the food chain. Not anymore."

Raven calms down. Her black soul self manifests beside her before producing a book. "Then I'll seal you like the monster you want to be. Thanks for leaving this book vacant." Blood's eyes widen before he launches a massive blast to cut Raven off. The Titan continues as the blast approaches her. "Aldruon En Lenthranall Losolomirus Nor!"

A black beam pierces through Blood's blast, roaring straight toward the HIVE teacher. The blast crashes into Blood before it starts to reel him in. He fights against it, but is pulled in as the book beside Raven opens up wide. Blood releases as much power as he can, but the power pulls him in as he disappears into the book. The pages turn closed as Raven grabs the old tome.

She floats to the top of the Spire, meeting Slade at the top. She commented. "That should be the end of that." She lands on the rock.

Slade looks around. "Yes, a grand victory, but if Blood's done, why aren't the other fights over?"

Raven looks around with a gasp. She sees a large black hole over top one battlefield with a purple glow. She turned to her left, seeing a large explosion of green. To the other side, she saw a spark of pink and yellow. Finally, a boom was heard as she turned to see several explosions, both red and orange. "That means-"

A spark of power launches Raven to the side as the book falls onto the ground. Raven rolled to her feet as she heard an unknown voice.

**Blood, once again you disappoint me. **

Azerall?! The book rips open and is incinerated as Blood rises from its ashes. The teacher frowns. "I apologize, master."

The voice is heard again. **Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three time is proof. This is your last chance.**

Raven remembered. Blood failed to eliminate the Titans. That's one. Just now was the second time. Raven narrowed her gaze. "Don't be ignorant enough to think you can win this."

Blood grins. His power gives off another purple aura, much darker than before. "Another blessing from my master. I'll defeat you easily with this." Blood glances over to Slade. "I'll finish you later."

In a single lightning movement, he closes the distance between him and Raven, his hand smacking into her head. He blasts her out of his grip, launching her flipping and skidding across the ground and off the side of the spire. Before she can even recover, he catches up to her, bringing two charged fists down on her. The hit rockets her down the spire all the way to the massive crater below. She hits the ground with a sickening thud that shakes the landscape.

Raven shakily gets up before creating a dome shield around her. However, Blood smashes right through it, landing right in front of her. "Azerath Metrion Zin-" Blood's hand clamps onto her mouth.

A dull glow comes from his hand. "Want to know what death tastes like?" Raven's eyes widen before she's blown away. She stops herself, coughing up a small amount of blood.

She glares at him as he steps toward her. "How did you get stronger?"

"The gift of my master?" Blood grins.

"You get rewarded for failure?"

Blood frowns. "If I fail this time, I die. I guess that leaves the one other option."

Maybe it was Jinx rubbing off on Raven, but she couldn't keep from making a snark comeback. "Suicide?" Blood didn't take that quip well. He charges at her, fist raised to punch. Raven falls back on one move she hadn't done yet. Blood's fist bashes into Raven's jaw, launching her away. However, her soul self remains behind as it enters into Blood's body.

Blood screams in pain, but charges his power, launching Raven's soul out of his body. Raven retreats back to her own body quickly. She makes it in, opening her eyes. She quickly teleports away as Blood's fist crashes into the spot her body had occupied. Blood seethes. "A mental attack?" He turns and looks up to the top of the spire. "My dear Raven, you should know me better."

Atop the spire, Raven appears, Slade standing casually a couple feet away with his hands together behind his back. "Having fun?" He asks.

She glares. "I was right." She looks off the cliff face. "He's not entirely human anymore. Nearly 90% demon. Azerall's 'gifts' aren't just simple ability boosts. Blood's physiology is changing as well."

Slade nods. "Useful information. I hope you know how to use it." He turns to her seeing that she isn't even paying attention to him. "Something the matter?"

Raven simply stared wide eyed in the distance, her mouth open slightly.

. . . . .

Jinx wobbles in place. Her breath heavily strains. "Ra. . . ven" She falls forward, hitting the ground beside Evaris.

. . . . .

Raven shakes slightly. _I don't understand. . . what's this feeling all the sudden. . . _"Jinx? . ."

Slade interrupts her. "He's coming."

Raven is snapped back to the problem at hand, still with a distracted look. She sees Blood levitate to the top of the spire, a good hundred yards away. She nods, glancing back in the direction of Jinx before back to Blood. "I need to end this now. I won't win with my demonic power alone. I could go all out and have about even power, but I won't have control of myself. It would be a lose/lose situation. But. . ."

"Ideas?" Slade asks in a slightly deeper dreaded voice.

Raven glares ahead. "I can take him down, but I need a way to buy time." Blood charges towards the two. Just before he gets to Raven, Slade's glowing halberd ax catches Blood in a swing, launching him away.

Slade walks in front of Raven. "Consider your time bought." Raven stares wide eyed a moment before nodding, flying back away from Slade. Blood steps back towards Slade, a scowl on his face. A large gash on his chest heals up. Near instant regeneration. Slade glares at Blood. "I have a question."

Blood grumbles with power building around him. "Go ahead."

Slade states. "Die."

. . . Blood tilts his head. "That's not. . . a questio-" Caught off guard, Slade smacks him away with a cheap shot from his halberd.

"That's because I don't do requests." Slade charges at Blood.

Back with Raven, she lands on the ground and closes her eyes, calming herself. She pictures in her mind. Black energy tendrils spread from her and lash out into the ground. The tendrils etch a large circle into the ground. As they do so, her powers crackle, creating various marking around the circle. Calm. Rage. Rude. Knowledge. Brave. Timid. Happiness. Passion. The eight symbols are carved around the circle.

The entire work of art radiates dark energy before the circle itself lights up white. The symbols light their colors. Blue. Red. Orange. Yellow. Green. Gray. Pink. Purple. All light together as Raven steps into the center of the circle.

The symbols activate all at once. However, despite the conflicting emotions, they all agreed on one thing. The thoughts of Passion. _Jinx. . . _The thoughts of Happiness. _I need Jinx. _Timid. _If I don't win, Jinx will. . . _Brave. _Nothing will stop me from winning for her. _Knowledge. _Even if someone else can help, I'm the only one that can heal her. _Rude. _Some asshole thinks he can harm her! _Rage. _I'll kill ANYONE that gets in my way of saving her. _Calm. _The only way I can save her is by ending this now!_

The symbols all shine bright.

Back with the fight, Slade hits the ground hard. Purple energy blasts him across the ground before Blood lands beside him. The priest grips the mercenary by the throat, lifting him off the ground. Blood smirks. "Any last words?"

A shining light catches both their attention. Neither is able to see through the white as Slade turns his head back to Blood. "Duck."

Blood glances back to Slade, confused, before a massive white beam rockets Blood away, dropping Slade. The shine dulls and disappears, footsteps catching Slade's attention. Raven steps up next to him, nothing but white, her hood down, and her eyes glowing white. Blood, half a football field's length away, got up shakily. He looked up with wide eyes.

Raven states simply, her voice normal. "This. Ends. Now."

Blood grits his teeth, gathering his power and charging. Just before reaching Raven, he launches his attack point blank. In one clash, his attack of beaten by a barrier of white. The barrier comes down, showing Raven standing, completely unfazed by the attack. White energy coats around Blood. The HIVE headmaster struggles, but his limbs are soon forced apart as he's lifted into the air.

Raven says simply. "End the spell that brought my family back."

Blood struggled. "HA! Nev-"

Raven's white energy glowing hand digs into Blood's gut. He tries to hunker down in pain, but he's forced still. Raven restates. "I said. . . End. The. Spell."

Blood looks up at her, trying to get air. "I will not surrender to children!"

Raven's expression doesn't falter in the slightest. She holds both hands up, charging her power before blasting him point blank. Her grip on him keeps him in place. He gasps for breath as she holds him still. "Do it, or I'll rearrange your organ locations in your body, starting from your intestines to your esophagus."

Blood looks up, confused. "I. . . can't. They're all already gone." He then flinches. "They're all gone?! How?!"

Slade responded. "Looks like you underestimated the Titans. Hmph. Just like-"

Blood interrupts. "Don't you say it."

"Trigon." Slade finished in a satisfied voice.

Blood looked down in defeat. "I. . . submit."

Raven drops Blood onto the ground with a thud. She looks into the air. "It's over, Azerall. Your plan to come here is over. I know you can hear me."

A calm silence filled the air. Blood breathed slowly. Slade glanced around curiously. Raven continues to glare at nothing.

However, the voice that came back couldn't sound happier. . .

**Blood. . . you couldn't have done a better job. **

The three all turn to shock. Blood spoke up, thankful. "You mean. . . I'm not in your ire?"

**On the contrary. . . you and I will work very closely from now on. **

A bolt of lightning struck from the heavens, directly onto Blood. The priest screams out in horror and pain. Raven and Slade are both launched off the spire, Raven using her powers to catch Slade. They land at the edge of the cliff. "What the hell is going on?!" Azerall's deep voice answers.

**There was no point that I actually though Blood would succeed. As long as Wolf and any other children of Trigon existed, I knew he'd fail in some capacity. So, I figured, why not use that? **

Raven recalled this exact subject before. She had discussed it with Zane.

Zane had said, "_Father was proud, but not an idiot. Instead, he made a different approach. One that worked whether or not his children betrayed him."_

Raven looked over at Blood. "A plan that works, whether or not your pawns go with it." She cried out. "You led him to lose on purpose!" Azerall's voice chuckled.

**And with each loss, he gave up more of his humanity to me. His body is now entirely composed of my power. He is nothing more now than a vessel. A vessel for me to take. . . **

Raven and Slade react at the same time, Raven charging with white energy around her fists, Slade swinging his flaming halberd. However, a large blast propels them off the spire once more. This one sends them far out. Raven recovers in the air, whipping around to catch Slade with her power before lowering them on the ground below.

Raven looks up in a fearful glare. The clouds above seem to pulsate a dark red and purple. After the pulse, it seemed to tint the clear parts green. The lightning struck one last time as a massive tremor shook the land. The tremor broke off the sides of the spire, thinning it down tremendously.

The shaking stopped as a deafening silence was all heard. Raven kept her eyes up at the top of the spire as a figure stepped up to the side. She expected it to be Blood, but his appearance was now one hundred percent different. Pale red skin. Long silvered hair down the back. Pitch black eyes. His body tone was lean. No shirt, but pitch black armbands covering from his wrists to his elbows. His pants were more like the bottom half of a full robe outfit, a dark gray, nearly matching his hair.

Raven shivers slightly, but levitates off the ground. She flies up into the sky, floating directly in front of the newly summoned demon. The demon looks away from her. He seemed curious. "I see. So, Wolf is dead."

Raven jolts from that, immediately looking in the same direction. She had nothing to say. She didn't know what to say. That came out of nowhere. She had thought. . . Jinx. . .

"Sad." His voice caught her attention. She looks back warily. He stares blankly into her eyes. "I was hoping to be the one to kill him, but I guess you'll have to do."

Raven barely even registers his movement as he closes the distance.

Suddenly, the sky illuminates in a massive violent and black explosion. . .


	24. Chapter 24

_My side hurts. _She stirred, wiggling into a comfortable spot to start getting up. She painfully opens her eyes, seeing vague outlines. "That you, Mammoth? I had a weird ass dream where I was dating Raven and we were trying to save the world."

The voice that responded was concerned. "Is our friend okay?"

Jinx's vision focuses, seeing Robin, Starfire, Red X, Blackfire, Kid Flash, Cyborg, Beast Boy, Terra, and some blue haired girl. Jinx blushed, but jokes. "Oh? I had the most wonderful dream." She points at Robin. "Except you were there." Then Starfire. "And you." She continued pointing. "And you. And you."

"Lucky." X interrupts her.

She shrugs painfully. "Sorry." She looks around tiredly.

Cyborg spoke up. "I got here to do surgery on ya', but most of the wounds healed up from Raven's brother."

Jinx nodded, rubbing her head. "Yeah, I'm sore all over. We won, I'm guessing?" Robin merely pointed up to the sky. Jinx follows the point, seeing the sickly green sky above. She whips her gaze back to Boy Wonder, completely serious. "Where's Raven?"

Blackfire answers, looking off in the distance as a few explosions sound. "Currently getting 50 shades of her ass handed to her."

Jinx scowled, trying to get up before wincing in pain. Cyborg holds his hand in front of her. "Woah, there. You just got up. You should be dead."

Jinx looks at him, retorting stubbornly. "Well, I'm not."

Robin grabbed her. "This time there won't be someone to die to save you."

The stops her. She looks back. "What?" Robin points a few feet away, finally seeing Zane on the ground, eyes clouded over.

Robin said grimly. "You're needed for the plan he made, so he died instead of you. Don't rush in."

Jinx stares at Zane, feeling nothing but dread. She nods slowly, not taking her eyes off the guy that took her place. ". . . what's the plan?"

Red X answers first. "Obviously, we continue that guy's plan."

Terra asks her question. "We need to get Jinx and Raven together for that ritual, right?"

The blue haired girl cut in. "And me." She looks at Jinx. "Deliza, charmed." It was abrupt, like the girl didn't feel like talking.

Beast Boy turns into an eagle, flying high into the sky before rocketing down. "That circle thingy is on top of the tower of rock."

Robin nods. "Deliza, take Jinx to the spire." He looks at everyone else. "Everyone else, converge on Raven's position. Do everything you can to get the enemy's attention off Raven, so she can go do what she has to."

. . . . .

A massive flash fills the sky, launching a small dot into the ground with a massive thud. Raven gets up, eyes glowing before finding Azerall standing direction in front of her, towering over her, double her height easily. His hand is directly in front of her forehead before it sparks. He flicks her.

Raven is launched away like a missile, skidding and roll across the ground through uplifted boulders and cratered hills. She lands in the distance on her feet, hands and eyes glowing. She jumps into the air. She concentrates, lifting all the debris, rocks, and boulders within the next mile and launches them all at Azerall.

A pulse waves out from the demon, instantly vaporizing everything she threw at him. She grits her teeth as he smiles right back. His body sparks with purple black electricity as he teleports directly behind her.

He thrusts his hand, attempting to pierce through her from behind, but white energy wraps her and teleports her away before it hits. Azerall turns to the side, meeting a powerful kick to the jaw, pushing him away. Raven floats back, holding her glowing hands together and blasting him with a white beam.

The hit launches him into the ground, but he remains on his feet the whole time until the beam finishes. The blast clears, showing him with no damage and popping his neck from her kick. Raven barely even reacts as he closes the distance quickly. He throws a punch at her, but the hit just goes through before Azerall flickers away.

Raven floats there, surprised. _Was that an illusion? But, I still detected emotion from it. _She looks at the spot she had launched him to earlier, seeing him still standing there smirking. However, he flickered away. _Another illusion?!_ She doesn't hear anything as his fist punches right beside her head from behind. Azerall floats behind her, holding his punch out with a smirk.

"What's the matter?" His voice makes her flinch. "I thought you killed Trigon? How are you having such problems even keeping track of the real me?"

Raven grits her teeth in anger, charging power in her hands. White energy grips the fist beside her head, attempting to hold Azerall still, as she whips around to attack. However, he kicks her in the side as she turns, launching her away as he breaks the white energy's hold on his hand.

He smirked as he rubbed the wrist for his hand. "Although, you didn't really kill Trigon. Oh sure, you brought about his death." He gave a smile. "For which I'm eternally grateful." The grin turned sinister. "But how much of his power do you think he used to subjugate this dimension? To turn it to nothing but ash and stone?"

Raven rubbed her ribcage where his kick landed. She responded. "I know I was never as strong as father. He was heavily weakened after his trip to this world, so that enabled me to win."

Azerall chuckles. "Don't make me laugh. 'Weakened'? Try crippled! I could use a spell like he used to turn this dimension the same way he did, but where would that leave me? I praise Trigon for even being conscious after doing so. I certainly wouldn't, as was the difference in our power."

Raven merely glared at him. "You're saying I'm some pathetic weakling?"

Azerall frowned. "Not at all. I'd say your demon power alone is about a seventh of Trigon's. This new form you're in now? Somewhere close to two sevenths. Very impressive."

Raven interrupts the conversation by sending a large blast, hoping to catch him by surprise. The hit is blocked by a sphere of purple energy. The sphere disappears, revealing Azerall just fine. Raven keeps the dialogue going. "So where does that put you in relation to Trigon's power?"

Azerall wags his index finger. "Tsk tsk. A smart demon never reveals his secrets." A sudden surge of power comes forth as a dark purple blast fires from his chest. Raven channels all her power, creating a shield as the attack hits. She's forced back, holding her ground, screaming with all her might before her white energy rips the beam apart. However, she looks up, seeing three Azeralls. Each one reaches out, launching identical blasts down at her.

She creates a dome shield as the attacks hit.

. . . . .

Deliza lands at the top of the spire. She releases Jinx, letting the ex thief stand on the ground. Jinx mutters. "Sorry. . ."

Deliza snaps out of her own thoughts. "Sorry? What?"

Jinx looks away. "I got your brother killed. . ."

Deliza smiles sadly. "Eh, he was an asshole a lot of the time." she kept the mood bright. "Besides, he chose that himself. If I wanted to be a bitch, I could remind you that he was a fusion of two of my brothers." It took her a second to notice she said that. Jinx immediately down turned her mood for the worst. Deliza sighed. "I'm so much better talking to men, sorry." She brightened up. "Which reminds me! You're Raven's lover?!"

Jinx blushed. "Erm. . . We haven't done THAT much-"

Deliza crossed her arms with a knowing smirk. "Oh ho? You two need instruction? I'm no stranger to swinging the bat at my own team if you know what I mean."

Jinx laughed. "I don't see Raven doing that." A loud explosion caught their attention. They both looked to see a massive mushroom cloud out in the distance. Jinx worried. "Shouldn't you go help Raven?"

Deliza frowned, but shook her head. "Even if I was a front line fighter, I'm not nearly strong enough to turn that battle around. Trust your friends to get Raven out. I'm needed here." She turns towards the Magic circle in the center of the spire. She particularly eyed the purple marking circle around the original, along with the mark of Azerall in the center. "Speaking of which, I should start getting rid of that abomination of a spell Blood placed on top of the old one."

Jinx watched her get to work as she felt something in her pocket. She pulled out Evaris's cross necklace. She smiled sadly. "Guess that's actually three brothers I got killed." She studied the trinket. "Wait. . ."

. . . . .

Raven floated in the smoke and debris. It coated the sky and hid her as she prepared for the coming attack. A massive blast fires through, but misses her completely. A second beam fires, again missing. She breathes heavily as she smirks. _He doesn't have any type of sense like Zane and I._

Outside the mushroom cloud, Azerall floats with his hands behind his back, gathering energy in front of him and launching beams randomly into the cloud. "It doesn't do well to hide. I'll find you eventually."

Her voice answers. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" The ground shakes with a sudden shock wave and a whole new wave of smoke and dust uplifts through the air, blinding the entire area.

Azerall pulls his hand up, looking at the palm. The smoke was so thick he could hardly see his own hand. He smirked. "Brilliant strategy. I assume this means you have a sixth sense like dear Wolf? He tried this before a few times. First time, he tried to attack me. The second time. . ."

A white blast hits him from behind. The smoke cloud is blasted away in a white explosion. The light clears, leaving Raven floating behind Azerall, who stands in the same spot as before with a flickering barrier around him.

He turns to her. "The second time he had learned how pointless that tactic was." His fist smashes into her face, bashing her down into the ground. "When you attempt an ambush, be sure that you have enough power to kill your opponent."

Raven shakily gets up, breathing heavy. However, she started to flicker. She looked at her cloak, seeing it flashing slowly between white and blue. She gasped, her face flashing slowly between two glowing white eyes and two regular violet ones.

"I see." She looks to see Azerall land on the ground a few yards away. "You achieved that form unnaturally, not through actual mastery." He begins to slowly walk towards her.

Raven calmed herself, the flashing stopping. She opens her eyes, satisfied that she's still White Raven. Only one more attack. "Azerath Metrion Zinthos!" White energy explodes from her body in the shape of a raven as it charges and bashes into Azerall.

A massive shock wave breaks apart the landscape, destroying everything in front of Raven. Her cloak turns blue and she falls to her knees.

"How. . ." She asks. "How could Zane fight you for two full weeks?"

"Hmph." Azerall grunts from the smoke. His voice slowly gets closer. "Is that how he put it? Sure, we fought every day, but don't think he had quite the stamina to keep going." Azerall exited the smoke with a smirk. "Every match ended this way in the same amount of time. The entire rest of those two weeks he spent constantly running from me."

He walked up to Raven, who couldn't get up from her knees. He simply picks his foot up to her eye level before kicking her dead in the chest, propelling her away. He then continues to walk towards her. She tries getting up, but he plants his foot on top of her chest. He charges a dark purple and green ball of energy in his hand, holding it up.

"I don't plan on letting this go nearly that long."

"yoink!"A yellow and red blur zips by, pulling Raven with it as Azerall's foot hits the ground. Kid Flash skids to a halt with Raven in his arm. "Sorry, I'm embarrassed for taking so long."

Azerall moves his hand to point the ball at KF, but Red X flickers in, directly under Azerall's arm. He blasts Azerall point blank with a red blast. Azerall skids back, still on his feet. He shows no harm, but scowls.

He prepares to fire again, but a disk is thrown in front of him, blowing up like a flash bang and blinding him. Before his vision comes back, Beast Boy jumps in as a kangaroo, double kicking the demon back further. Robin lands with him.

Azerall is caught by a trap of rocks folding and crushing in on him. Before he does anything more, missiles, sonic beams, and green and purple star bolts blast the rocks.

Terra, Starfire, and Blackfire land. Cyborg runs in, both arms as sonic cannons. Robin turns to Raven. "Get to the spire."

Raven barely got to her feet. "What do you-"

"We have to finish your brother's plan, and it's all we have. Jinx and Deliza are at the spire waiting for you."

Raven's eyes widen. That's all he needed to say. She nods. "Be careful. He's far beyond us right now." She lifts off the ground and flies toward the spire, notably slower than normal.

Robin mutters. "You don't need to tell me that." He turns back to Azerall, who already floats off the ground, dusting himself off.

"Mind if I join this party?" Slade cuts in behind Robin.

Robin looks at him. "You stayed out of the fight? Why didn't you help her?"

Slade looks Robin in the eye. "You expected me to make a difference while she was losing?"

Robin scowls as everyone gathers around them. "Alright! Titans GO!"

. . . . .

Raven lands on the edge of the spire, immediately stumbling but keeps her footing. She slowly walks towards the center seeing Deliza looking over the spell circle. Deliza turns. "RAVEN!" She zips over to her little sister, engulfing Raven in a hug that once again stuffs Raven's head in the center of her chest. Thankfully, Deliza pulls back, being met by Raven's four crimson eyes. She laughs. "Oh, like you wont have contact with another girl like that soon."

Raven's face is an odd mix of frightening and funny, seeing four red eyes on a face that's blushing. Raven shakes her head, getting two eyes back. She looks past Deliza, seeing Jinx. She doesn't know where the energy came from, but suddenly, she could ignore the pain wracking through her body as she stepped quickly to Jinx. "Are you okay?! What happened?" Raven looked over Jinx's body, seeing no fatal wounds, just bruises and scrapes.

Jinx blinked a few times, not sure how to react to Raven checking her over like this. "I. . . fought your brother Evaris-"

Raven cut her off in a crushing hug. Jinx stands there, surprised that Raven was capable of that. Raven spoke in relief. "I felt something happen to you. . . I apologize." Raven breaks the hug, letting out a sigh.

Jinx looks away. "Don't apologize. I'm the idiot that pretty much died." Raven looks up at the thief. "Zane used his own life force or something to heal me and save my life. It cost him his. . . I'm sorry."

Raven stood there, blank expression. "I see. . . I hoped that Azerall was lying, but-"

Deliza cut in. "Save the water works for after we kill that bastard." The two teens looked at the prostitute. "This ritual will bring forth the spirits of all Trigon's children. Let him see you one last time before you go moping."

Raven and Jinx stand for a moment before nodding. Jinx states. "So, I have to use my powers on you, Rae?"

Raven nodded. "Is everything ready?"

Deliza nods. "I wiped out everything Blood added to the circle." The stone with the mark of Scath glowed with the circle around it glowing dully red. The seven slots around the circle were unoccupied.

"Zane told you everything that needs done?"

Deliza nods. "He and I may bicker a lot, but he wasn't an idiot. Just in case one of us died, the other would know what to do." She looks at Jinx. "You're going to destabilize Raven, use your luck powers to affect her to both the molecular and spiritual level. She'll become unstable, and be forced into two counterparts. One human, who will stand in the center of the circle. One demon, who will take its spot in the slots outside. The rest will be done by the circle."

Jinx shook slightly. "But. . . if I mess this up."

"You won't." Raven said, fully confident. "This is the only thing we can do, right?" Deliza gave a nod. "What happens after the ritual?"

Deliza sighs. "Each spirit of Trigon's children will be absorbed into your human part. Not only will you be reunited, you'll contain all the rest of us inside you as well. You'll be as strong as father." Before Raven even asks. "No, it will not be permanent. I have my own life to live, even if I wouldn't mind living in that body." Deliza ends teasingly.

Raven blushes, but stays stoic. "Okay." She squares herself toward Jinx.

Jinx nods slowly, placing her hands on Raven's shoulders. She breathes in slowly, then out. She opens her eyes in a flash as they glow pink. Pink sparks crackle around her arms, charging from her into Raven.

Raven flinches and her breathing stalls.

. . . . .

_A girl giggled. "You can't seriously be against this." The blonde chuckled. She wore tight black pants and a tight black jacket with pink inside the down hood. She had pink eyes._

A black haired girl stared dully at her. She wore black yoga pants with a blue jack that had thick black bar lines up the zipper line and around the hood. The hood was currently down, showing more of her blue eyes. "Seriously?" She droned. "You actually think this is safe?"

_The two stood stood at the edge of a drop down a snow covered mountain top. A tall mountain about half an hour out of the city. Beside the two were what seemed like bicycles, but the front wheel was replaced with a board like a skateboard. The back wheel had boards to both sides of it. _

_The brunette continued. "Asking me to simply ski down a mountain is enough to ask. Asking me to add further balance issues on top of a bike that could potentially flip over on top of me?" _

_The blonde laughed. "It's a legitimate sport in the Alps! Called Skibobbing." _

_The brunette shook her head, muttering to herself. "Yeah, cause you're the one that's ends up bobbing along the ground." _

_The blonde steps to her, wrapping her arm around her neck. "Quit your bitching." despite the wording, it comes out incredibly friendly. "You got me here! You won't get hurt." _

_The brunette dully stared at her new best friend. "We've barely known each other for a week and a half, and you're wanting me to try this stuff?" _

_The blonde cackled. "Please Rachael?" She gives a puppy dog stare. _

_Rachael's eyes twitch looking at the pleading stare. It was weird. She hardly knew the person for any stretch of time, but felt too. . . connected. She knew there was still a lot she didn't know, not that she was one to talk. Telling someone rapidly taking up all your thoughts that you're a superhero? Kind of hard._

Rachael sighs. "Okay, Jennifer. . ."

_. . . . . _

"_I trust you." _

Raven opened her eyes, seeing Jinx. The pink haired girl stepped back. "Raven? Um. . ."

There was a low growl, Raven turned to her side, seeing her soul self. Her eyes widened. It was an exact copy and paste version of her soul self. Except. . . it had four crimson eyes. It stood there beside her, staring back with its hood up.

The real Raven checked herself over. She felt. . . well, weak as hell, but that was understandable. She felt empty. Hollow. She looked at Jinx. "I guess that means it worked?"

Deliza walked over, looking over the soul self replica that simply growled back at her. Deliza chuckled. "That went perfectly. It's completely separate and and uncontrolled, but since it's you, it wants to help."

Raven looked at her demon half. The demon have stared angrily at her. "You must hate me for keeping you locked up so much." The demon have growled at her. Raven smirked. "How about a compromise? When we all link together," Raven points at her soul self. "You can have the driver seat."

Her demon side's eyes widen slightly before its growl turns into a low purr. It suddenly teleports to its spot on the circle. Deliza walks over and steps into her spot. She looks expectantly at Raven. "Well?"

Raven nods, taking a single step before stumbling. Jinx catches her. "You okay?" The two looked at each other a moment before Raven nodded. They walk together to the center of the circle. Raven looks at Jinx.

The thief tilts her head curiously as Raven moves her fingers to gesture Jinx a little closer. Raven kisses her, the two holding there a moment. Jinx breaks the kiss. "Okay, we have time for that later."

Raven nods. "Be careful."

Jinx nods, turning away towards the battlefield in the distance and running towards the edge of the spire. Raven turns to her demon half and Deliza. Deliza can't keep contained. "SO cute!"

Raven frowns. "Let's start."

. . . . .

Azerall stands alone on the battlefield. He looks to the left, seeing Starfire, Beast Boy, and Kid Flash out cold. Behind him, Terra and Cyborg lay unconscious. To his right, Blackfire and Slade lay.

Azerall huffs. An X shaped blast hits, sticking around him to hold him on the ground. Red X drops from behind with his X blades spinning at the wrists. However, an invisible shock wave hits him from the side into the ground. Red X skids across the ground, coming to a halt. Out cold.

Azerall turns his head down to see the sticky substance around him get hit by a disk. The substance freezes around him. Robin throws three more into the ice on Azerall's chest before it all explodes. Robin takes a defensive stance.

Azerall walks out from the smoke, unimpeded. To his side, Slade looks with his eye, pretending to be unconscious. His grip on his halberd tightens as he jolts off the ground beside Azerall, swinging the axe side. However, Azerall holds his hand out, catching the blade of the weapon and blasting it out from Slade's hand. Slade looks wide eyed a moment before getting hit by a shock wave like X was.

The demon turns back to Robin, who pulls out his staff. Azerall chuckles. "A staff. The grand finale is a staff?"

Azerall sends a beam at Robin, but the beam passes through a flickering hologram. The demon looks below Robin's feet, seeing a tiny black device projecting the image. He turns, his face meeting Robin's metal staff. The demon steps back, not too damaged. Robin steps away, wide eyed.

Azerall glares. "Well played." Just like Red X and Slade, Robin is hit with a sudden force that plants him into the ground.

The demon looked over the fallen fighters, preparing to kill them before catching a red glow in the distance. He glances over to see the glow centering from the top of the spire.

"And what is this?" He says, amused.

. . . . .

The circle glowed burning red. In the center, Raven knelt down, placing her hand on the stone with the mark of Scath etched in. Upon her touch, the glow shifted from red to white. She looked up to her demonic aspect, which stared back with its four eyes. The space around the aspect erupted in black energy, completely covering the soul self, but the four red eyes were still visible.

Raven looked at the space next to it as it erupted in golden yellow energy. From seemingly nowhere, the silver haired fedora rocker, Evaris, came. He stood in the center of the erupting yellow energy, his own four crimson eyes showing. He gave a smirk with his hands in his pockets.

Beside him stood Deliza, who's space erupted blue. Her own four crimson eyes shone through, staring at Raven. She had her hand on her hip.

Raven followed the pattern. The next space erupted in purple, with Gula appearing with his four crimson eyes. He stood stoic, staring forward. He didn't seem interested at all.

The next space erupted green. Raven saw Lyzza standing there with her arms crossed, staring with two sets of red eyes. She almost seemed to be judging Raven.

Raven continued around, seeing another space explode out in orange energy. She saw the black haired Zane looking at her. He was sitting with his legs crossed beneath him. Of course. Standing is too much energy for the lazy one. He had a laid back smirk.

Finally, she found the last space erupting in pure red. There stood the red headed brother she'd come to know. Though, she had to admit a lot of it was Zane too. There stood Wolf, who gave a cool smirk at her as his hair flows up from the surge of energy.

"The ritual? Great. Our existence forever wiped out to bring back that bastard of a father." Lyzza spat. She looked at Raven, who gave a confused look. "What?! You think you look better than me?" She spat defensively.

Zane sighed. "How troublesome." He looked at Lyzza next to him. "Do you even know who this girl is? Quit being envious when you don't have to be."

"And who is this girl?" Gula stated. "I've never seen her. Then again, I've never seen any of you either. Personally, I couldn't care. If you're in the slots, that means you're my brothers and sisters. I don't need to know more."

"Don't be so hasty." Evaris chuckled. "Luck might be with us. This is our final sister. She's a half demon." He gestured to the black space with four eyes inside next to him. "Here's one half of her. Considering we haven't united into father yet, I assume her human half has some need of us."

Lyzza huffed. "Our sister is half human? Of course she's the lucky one to not live under father directly." She glared at Deliza. "At least she doesn't look like the tramp."

Deliza scowled. "And hello to you too, bitch. Her name is Raven. I'm Deliza the blue tiger, by the way. Essence of Lust."

Lyzza smirks. "Charmed. Lyzza the green lizard." She frowns upon looking at Deliza's figure then at her own. "Essence of Envy. . ."

Evaris erupted in laughter. "So wait, she's Raven? As in her title is Raven the black raven? HA!" He sighs, shaking his head. "Ah redundancy. At least it comes full circle. We start with someone named after the animal they are, and we end on one as well." He points his thumb at himself. "Evaris the yellow fox. Essence of Greed."

"Start with one?" Gula states. "I wouldn't know. I'm Gula the purple Croc. Essence of Gluttony."

A yawn interrupts them. They all look at Zane, black haired Zane. "As long as we're stating titles. Zane the orange bear. Essence of Sloth." He lazily looks at Gula with a smirk while pointing at Wolf with his thumb. "And Evaris meant him. Wolf the red wolf. The essence of Wrath."

"Ah." Gula states simply. He eyes Raven. "That makes her the essence of Pride. Well? Go on with your business. The afterlife awaits us."

"What?" Lyzza cut in. "Why the rush? The afterlife nothing but chocolates for your big butt?"

"ENOUGH!" Everyone jolted and looked at Wolf. He sighed. "As Zane said, I'm Wolf. All of you but Gula have met me first hand. Since I'm the eldest of us all, I guess that means I'll keep everyone on task."

They all nod, including Raven who turns to face him.

He continued. "Each and every one of us despised our father to some degree. Some more than others. Currently, one of father's greatest enemies of the past is attempting to do what father failed to, conquer earth."

"Failed?" Lyzza, Gula, and Evaris stated at once.

"Yes." Raven answered, getting their attention. "Though he was weakened when it happened, I killed him."

Evaris whistled, saying in a soft voice. "You lucky whore. . ."

Lyzza scowled, jealous of Raven's nuclear jump in standing amongst the group. "Well how good for you."

Gula nodded. "I assumed one of his children would bring his death, though frankly, I thought it would be at Wolf's hands."

Wolf ignored the comments and kept going. "This enemy, Azerall, currently threatens our sister's home. So, we arranged this ritual to occur. Ordinarily, our essences would simply combine into Trigon anew. However, since Raven and Deliza are still alive, we can use it differently, to combine into Raven and use our power to crush Azerall once and for all."

They all looked around the circle, unsure how to answer. Gula brought up the general question. "Each of us was made with the express interest of ending this world. You mean for us to work to save it? Simply because someone most of us never met in life lives here?"

"I'll do it." Lyzza cuts in. They look at her surprised as she shrugs her shoulders. "What? I've envied power and freedom all my life. How can I pass up the chance to finally have as much power as father?"

"I feel the same." They look at Evaris. "I hungered for more, so it would be sweet to taste what I lost out on."

Zane yawned. "It was mine and Wolf's plan, so needless to say, I'm in."

Deliza responded next. "I have a life here too! I'm in by default." She then glares at Wolf. "Guilt tripper!"

Gula nods. He looks at Raven. "I guess that leaves me to decide. So tell me, what is it you think of us?"

. . . . .

Azerall flew towards the spire. He saw the lights. White, black, red, blue, orange, green, purple, and yellow. _What sort of spell is that? _He frowned as he approached the base. _I can't let it finish-_

A large pink wave knocks him out of the sky, unprepared. He lands on the ground, unsure of what happened, before he looks at the base of the spire, seeing another teen.

Jinx's hands crackled with her hexes as her eyes glowed. "HEY! You must be that Azurill, Azura, azurbitch guy!"

Azerall scowled. "I am LORD AZERALL, yes."

Jinx smiled. "Cool! I'mma kick you in the schnoz."

The demon sweat drops. "I'm sorry, that's a new one. Who are you exactly?"

Jinx keeps up the bravado, despite slight shaking in her legs. "I'm Jinx! Mistress of bad luck. It's you unlucky day, Beelzabub!"

Azerall just stared at her a few moments. His shoulders shook slightly. "ha. . Haha. . HAHA. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!" His head whipped back, bellowing laughter.

Jinx scowled at him. "Okay, now I'm annoyed." She blasts a hex at the laughing demon, who sees it coming easily and dodges to the side of it.

However, as he dodges it, the hex expands, catching him anyway and blasting him back. He recovers immediately. "What?!"

Jinx's eyes widen. _I didn't do that on purpose. . ._ She smirked. _Oh well, don't question it. _

Azerall narrowed his eyes. "Wench." He blasted a beam at her, but she reacts just in time by reflex, ducking the shot. It still burns off the right shoulder of her shirt, making her shriek at the close call.

He starts blasting beam after beam as Jinx ducks, rolls away, and jumps over beams. She dodges behind cover, sighing in relief before her eyes snap open. She flips to the side, dodging the demon as he missiles in from above.

She cartwheels away, stops, and throws a hex at him. He holds up his hand and blocks it with a shield this time, but pink sparks crackle around his hand. He looks at his hand, curious. While distracted, Jinx jumps at him, throwing a kick.

He dodges to the side of the kick. However, the moment the foot flies back his face, an invisible force smacks his jaw, but not enough to unbalance the super strong demon. Angered, he lashes out at her, but she dodges perfectly and flips back.

She lands, breathing heavily. Her body was in pain, not fully healed. She was just lucky nothing was brok- . . . . _Wait. . ._

_. . . . . _

"_Wait. . ." Jinx said as she held the cross necklace. "Hey, Deliza!" _

_The blue haired demon called back. "Yes?" _

_Jinx ran up to the demon. She held up the necklace. "What exactly is this?" _

_Deliza looked at the trinket. "That came from Evaris?" Jinx nodded. "Well, I don't know much. Something about him personally pouring his power into an item on his person, so he could get whatever tool he needed to finish a job."_

Jinx looked at the necklace curiously. "So it contains his power to some degree? He used it to transform it into brass knuckles and guns. Can anyone else use it?"

_Deliza scratches the back of her head. "Well. . . You'd need similar powers. You're luck based, but I highly doubt you can instantly make handguns appear to cap someone in the knees. You need anything else?"_

Jinx smirks. "Nope. Not really."

_. . . . . _

Jinx smirks deviously, her hand clutched around the small cross necklace around her neck. She ducks back Matrix style, a beam flying over her head. Still leaned back, she throws both hands forward, blasting at Azerall. The demon creates a massive shield around him that blocks the hit, but it fades suddenly. He looks at her wide eyed and angry.

Jinx smiles nervously. _Each hex I've used is made to affect his powers. I think he's starting to notice too. . ._

Azerall growls, bursting forward and throwing punches. Jinx ducks left, then right, barely on step. Being so much taller, she jumps out a punch, hand standing on his arm before ax kicking him. The kick, at human strength, did nothing, but luckily, her heel hits the weak spot in the back of the head. It stuns him as she jumps away.

She cartwheels back to get distance. When she stops, she finds her back to the side of the spire. She breathes heavily, sweating profusely. "Shit. . ."

"ENOUGH!"

She looks back as Azerall closes the distance, finally getting a hit on the annoyance. He kicks her aside, launching her thirty yards to the side. She skids to a halt, laying down.

Azerall sighs, venting his anger. "Such a small insignificant human was able to fight me? Disgraceful." He rises off the ground to head to the top of the spire. However, he rockets back, dodging another hex that breaks apart a huge chunk of the wall. He lands a good distance away.

Jinx stands there, her right arm hanging to the side, useless and broken. Her left hand was raised and crackling with pink energy. Her eyes looked like she was barely conscious, despite glowing the threatening pink. "You're not getting past me."

. . . . .

Raven stood there in front of Gula. "What do I think of you?" He nodded. Raven sighed. "All my life, I've been cursed by my demonic heritage, being raised separate from society and even my mother while being hammered in teachings about rejecting any emotion or even any right to enjoy a life to live. All of this because of father."

Everyone listened, most frowning. Raven continued. "The first time I met Wolf, when he introduced himself as Zane," Wolf and Zane shared a glance. "I grabbed the nearest sharp object and attempted to slit his throat. I hate everything in regards to demons, and here I find that not only my father, but everyone my father was associated with wants nothing more than to annihilate the world I know and love."

They all sat and listened to the youngest daughter of Trigon. Raven then smiled. "I no longer feel that way." They all widened their eyes. "I see that each of you have been in situations not the same, but similar in different fashions to my own. None of you made the choice to be what you were, and you resented it. It didn't matter if you were full demons, you still had thoughts and feelings of your own."

It was still silent. She finished. "How do I feel about you all? . . . I feel sad. I have friends that I consider family and more precious than anything, but I wouldn't mind actually having a family. Sadly, I'll never get the chance to truly know each of you." She looked back up to Gula, her face stoic, but her eyes showing sadness behind them. "That is how I feel about you."

There was silence amongst the group. They all looked at once another, having similar thoughts. Deliza glared at Wolf. "Okay, I'll admit. You're a good older brother if you turned her opinion around like that."

Wolf smiled while Zane grumbled. "No credit for me?"

Lyzza snickered. "Probably too lazy."

Evaris chuckled with her. "That's a safe bet."

Finally, Gula smiled. "Okay. I will comply with this ritual." Each child gave an identical smile, looking at Raven with their four eyes. The circle and each of the colors erupted and brightened.

Raven smiled at them all as the light engulfed her. "Thank you."

. . . . .

Jinx's body is smacked into the rock, Azerall's hand gripped around her throat. The demon smiles. "Well, I have to admit human, this has been fun." He noticed her discomfort as she tried to pull his hand off with her left hand. "Well, for me. Not for you. As for you." He drops her to her knees. He holds his hand out, creating a ball of purple green energy. "Prepare to know oblivion, for which there is no preservation. . ."

And that's when it happened. . .

The entirety of the land shines in a bright white.

.

.

.

.

.

"_Jinx, open your eyes." _A mental voice called.

Jinx opens her eyes, seeing the sky turned into a deep black. Everything was lit bright. She looked around to see gray flames across the landscape. In the distance, Azerall gets up shakily. "What in the seven hells was that?" He looks up, immediately shocked.

Behind Jinx, the spire at the center of the crater stood tall. Along its side, the mark of Scath burned on the rocky tower, blazing in pure white fire. Jinx looks at the figure in front of it, her breath lost.

Raven floated there, her cloak whipping out to the side in the wind. Her cloak and hood along with her leotard a deep pure lifeless black. Her hood up, revealed four eyes glaring at Azerall. However, these eyes were all a mix of silver and white instead of red. Her voice echoed through the land. "Azerall, prepare to die."

Jinx stared wide eyed, sitting down and holding her broken arm with her left. Raven lowered to the ground beside her with an echoing wind sound. Raven waved one hand as Jinx's right arm coats with silver energy. She winces before sighed. The energy leaves her as she finds the arm completely healed. Jinx smiles up at Raven. "Thank you."

Raven looked back to Azerall, who stood off against her. "Well, I see you have a new impressive form. No matter, you're still nothing compared to your father or me."

"Are you so sure?" Raven's voice echoed in multiple pitches.

Azerall unleashes a massive beam. Raven doesn't even move as a small black ball appears in front of her. The beam is chaotically absorbed into the ball before it disappears. Azerall's eyes widen as Raven holds up her hand. The ball reappears before the same blast is launched back.

Azerall creates a massive shield as it blocks his own attack. He smirks as two other images of him appear. The three Azeralls all three fire massive beams. However, a black hole opens over them all as a severe suction uplifts the blasts and absorbs them. The black hole disappears. "Having problems?" Raven taunts. "Courtesy of Gula." Three small black balls appear in front of her chest, each unleashing one of the absorbed blasts.

Azerall's eyes widen as he throws a defense, but the blasts send him back. He skids to a halt, standing tall. He glares. "I'm impressed, but you'll need far more."

"Here it is." Raven states as a silver veil of energy bubbles out through the whole battlefield, engulfing both Jinx and Azerall. Raven smirks. "Lyzza says hi."

Another Raven appears above Azerall. "She also says hey."

Another appears to his left. "And hello."

All three mutter at once. "And bye." All three Ravens launch massive beams at Azerall, erupting half the crater these battles have taken place in. Jinx would be blasted as well if not for a shield around her.

Azerall stumbles from the smoke and debris. Black blood drips from his mouth and arms. "Is that it?" He yells proudly.

Raven smirks. Silver energy crackles around her hand much like Jinx's hexes. She fires a massive hex, cracking apart the ground Azerall stands on. He shakes off balance before the destroyed ground glows and reshapes. The dust and debris form into whips and wrap around him, restraining him. Raven comments. "Fighting with everything except the actual body. A perfectly lazy form of fighting for Zane."

Azerall suddenly flares out, breaking free. "ENOUGH!" He rockets towards Raven without thinking his action through.

"Manipulating your emotional state for my favor. A charm from Deliza." Raven muttered as she teleported away to dodge Azerall's powered punch. Raven appears behind him. He whips around to blast her point blank, but she simply tosses her hand out to slap the air. An invisible force smacks Azerall across the jaw, launching him to the right. "Always able to hit. Guess that's Evaris's luck going for me." Raven said.

Azerall gets up, barely keeping his balance. He looks up, seeing Raven's energy form into a giant silver white Raven.

"This is for Wolf." Raven muttered. The raven splits into an entirely flock of smaller ravens as they rocket towards Azerall.

The demon rises into the sky to dodge, flying as fast as he could, but the ravens surround him on all sides before they close in. Upon the swarm hitting him, they all explode, lighting the entire sky with a massive light. The light receded as a bleeding Azerall plummets from the sky and hits the ground head on. Raven slowly walks towards him. Azerall barely starts to get up. "I don't get it. . . she's stronger than Trigon!" He looks up at her as she approaches. "All the power of Trigon, plus the individual powers of each child, on top of that white power she used before!"

He gets up to his knee, fear in his eyes. In a frightened panic, he blasts her with all his power. However, the blast bashes into Raven head on and dissipates, not even making Raven flinch. Raven steps up to him. "Any last words?"

He shakily asks. "Y-y-you're. . . like a god."

She narrows her gaze. "No. I'm just a demon." She places her hand on his chest. "Now, die Azerall." The images of each of her siblings appears, each holding their hands over top hers on his chest. All seven voices overlap. "AZERATH METRION ZINTHOS!" The entire land shines a light visible from space and beyond. . .

The clouds part, a blue sky showing once more. A body hits the ground, a shirtless, battered, and now powerless Brother Blood.

Standing there is Raven, who glares at the body. She mutters one last thing. "Thank you-" Her footing gives out. The jet black cloak snapping back to blue as Raven hits the ground front first unconscious.

Jinx could only stare in awe, having no idea how to react to what happened. Up at the top of the spire, a blue mass of energy landed and formed as Deliza landed back in her slot on the circle, alone. "Whew. That was interesting." She looked out in Raven's direction. "Don't thank us."

. . . . .

Raven laid unconscious, her head on Jinx's lap. The pink haired girl gentle petted Raven with a smile while everyone else gathered.

Robin stood over Brother Blood. "Well, he's still alive." He tries moving too fast, but winces in pain. Starfire helps him walk, but she winces too.

She falls as Blackfire sighs. "You're too beaten after both Lyzza and Azerall. I'LL help you two." The black haired alien moves Star and Robin to a spot to sit, ignoring the pain in her own body.

Beast Boy looks at Cyborg. "No 'boo yah'?"

Cyborg, his circuitry still sparking a lot, sighs. He steps back from Zane's body. "Nothing I can do. . . especially like this."

Slade, who sat separate from the group, eyed the teen. He looked to a small paper in his hand.

Kid Flash sighs. "Not the first time a life's been lost to this, but still." He looks at Robin. "What now?"

Terra glares over at Slade. Even after fighting with him, she glared full of hate. "Wasn't the deal to give Blood to _him?_"

Robin sighs, looking from the unconscious Blood to Slade. She scowls. "That was the deal. . ."

Slade nods. He looks at Zane. ". . . place his body next to Blood's." He gets up and slowly walks over, as if he wasn't injured at all.

Robin looks questioningly as Slade held out an old decrepit looking paper. "What's this?"

Slade states. "My agenda."

Robin narrows his vision and takes it. The paper was cloth like. He examined it. The paper contained a what looked like a complex spell circle. "Magic?"

Slade answers. "Blood magic. You learn a lot of things when you serve as the herald of Trigon." He looks at Blood. "That spell requires a sacrifice. I'm going to sacrifice Blood."

Jinx glares at him. "Really? After all this demonic shit, you want to invite more with something like that?"

Slade looks at her. "The spell sacrifices a victim and targets a person. In this case, it will be Zane."

Robin tries to question. "Wha-"

Slade continues. "The target must be a person whose death was caused by the sacrifice, thus limiting the people this spell can be used on. I had planned to resurrect my family. However. . ." He looked at Blood. "He's now a simple human. No more powers. His life force is only worth one person. I can no longer bring back my whole family. As such, my efforts here provided me with nothing."

Terra begrudgingly retorts. "You could still bring one person back. . ."

Slade looks at her. "An astute observation my old apprentice, but that would only be a hollow victory. They would have to acclimate to living without the rest of our family, and it would only remind me of the ones I couldn't bring back. Besides, I'll get my revenge either way." He looked back to Robin. His voice now tired. "So I give the choice to you. Do you want Raven's brother back or not?"

Robin doesn't even respond.

Slade chuckles. "I'll take that as a yes." He walks over and unceremoniously grabs Zane's ankle and drags him over to Blood's side. No one interrupts as Slade begins etching markings into the ground around the two. After about ten minutes, he stands. "There. Now, to place my hand here, and. . . go." He places his hand at the edge as the circle gives a dull red glow and black sparks.

Over the course of a few seconds, Blood's body crumples and turns to dust. The dust turns to black energy as it all slowly entered Zane's body. The circle ceases its glowing as Slade turns around.

"There you go. Farewell, Titans." He steps past Robin, moving to where his halberd sticks up. He grabs it and begins walking away. "Until next time."

Robin scowls. "If we get news about you-"

Slade's voice got further away as he kept walking. "I'll expect no less."

Everyone stays silent for a few minutes before Red X gets up. "Well, my time is wasted around here." He begins walking away. "I promise this is the last time I play hero."

Robin smirks slightly. "Hopefully so. If you start being good, I'll lose reason to catch you and find out who you are."

Red X gives a slight salute before teleporting away. Black fire sighs. "Well, guess I'm out of here."

Starfire looks at her sister with puppy dog eyes. "But sister, you did something out of the kindness of your heart! Can you not keep doing it?"

Blackfire's eye twitches. "No. My kindness is used up for one lifetime." Starfire continues to pout until Blackfire sighs.

Star takes that as a sign to hug her before Blackfire floats upward. "See ya." She flies away.

That leaves the 6 conscious teens and conscious demon confused. Kid Flash. "So wha-"

Zane coughs violently all the sudden, startling everything. He coughs for a good thirty seconds. "Ohhhh. . . FUCK!" He coughs again. His voice strained. "Why is my throat so dry?"

A foot hits his head. Deliza stands over him. "Because you've been dead for about two hours."

The redhead rolls onto his back. He looks up to the darkening sky with the sunset in the background. He looked to the side, seeing Raven unconscious. "Oh? We won, right. . . How am I back?"

Deliza continued to stare down at him. "Blood magic. It wouldn't have been needed if you weren't an idiot and died."

Zane didn't give attention to last bit. "Cool. Who's the blood mage?"

Robin answered nervously. "Slade apparently. He sacrificed Blood to bring you back."

Zane looks up. "Oh? Cool."

Deliza dead panned at him. "You're taking the fact that you died and came back awfully lightly. Why aren't you getting up?"

Zane simply stared into the sky. "Well, a single human life force isn't really enough to heal me. . . I can't get up." This made several of them chuckle at him, Deliza shaking her head at him.

. . . . .

_**GNN NEWS: Lori Prince Live.**_

Good old Lori appeared on the screen with a tired look in his eye. He seemed genuinely happy though. "Good evening and welcome to Lori Prince Live. Tonight's subject: Victory. The Teen Titans have once again come out of a nearly impossible situation. Not only did they win, but they also managed free this very news caster from the control of one of their enemies! I have undergone a psyche evaluation for the last few months of my life I have missed." He chuckled. "While I don't remember much of that time, I would like to say that I disagree with any and all statements made by my guests that slandered the Titans. Joining me tonight is police commissioner Jim Gordan, who's been on here before. Hello Jim!"

The mustached officer appeared. "Good to see you with a clear head. How are you?"

Lori responded in a forced voice. "I am good! Do you happen to know any good psychologists other than Hugo Strange?" Gordan smirked and shook his head. Lori muttered. "Damn." He looked up, turning his head off screen. "Bleep that." He looks back. "Also joining me today is Lois Lane, who also participated over the time I lost. How are you miss Lane?"

She appears with him, looking happy. "More or less just hoping you're okay."

He chuckled nervously. "I'm as sweet and punch. I brought you two on since you both have had similar situations of being rescued by heroes. Please, discuss." He sat back and sighed.

Lane started. "Well, I've been saved by Superman once or twice, but-"

Lori cuts in. "I count at least 43 from my own knowledge."

Gordan responds too. "Actually more over the time your memory's lapsed."

Lane's eye twitched. "Be that as it may, I find that the more it happens, the more you get used to it. You run the risk of being targeted when you're a public figure."

Lori nods. "Right, Gordan can sympathize, having been assisted by Batman dozens of times." Gordan seems to groan lightly, but a sharp ringing sounds for a second. Lori pulls out a cell phone on camera, looking at a text message. "It seems my private number has been found by a prankster. A message reading 'watching you'." He puts the phone away. "That is unnerving."

Lane and Gordan both share the same look of slight concern. Gordan starts again. "Well, at the very least, we can commend the Titans once more-"

The phone starts to ring and Lori pulls his phone out. He sighs. "Same number. I apologize people at home." He hits the touch screen and puts the phone up. "Hello caller, you are on the air."

The response is a maniacal insane laughter. . . . the Joker's laughter.

Lori throws the phone off screen. He throws his arms up in surrender. "That's it. I'm done. He's playing mind games now. The ONE things I remember from the past two months." He walks off screen.

The tv flickers off.

_**Alright you all! You'll be getting an epilogue soon. :) By the way, you'll be getting an unofficial 26th chapter some time after it that won't be involved with the story, but will actually be an outline for pretty much all the references I've used in this story that most of you probably don't get in the slightest. Just if you're curious about some things and just think 'I don't get the joke'. **_

_**Also for vipir947's review, he asked how, since Raven killed Trigon, that Azerall would be able to beat Raven. I had addressed it in the early chapters, but since I got that review, I guess it was time to restate it. More or less I wasn't that clear the first time, so I explained it in this chapter. **_

_**Just to answer where power levels would be, lets say:**_

_**Trigon = 7(For the total power of all his childrens' demonic power)**_

_**Raven without demonic power/all Titans = .5**_

_**Raven with demonic power = 1**_

_**Wolf = 2(For both him and Zane)**_

_**White Raven = 2 (Combined Demon and human magic power)  
**_

_**All other children of Trigon = 1**_

_**Azurall = 5**_

_**SIN Raven = 8**_


	25. Chapter 25

Slow foot steps sounded through the halls. The green teen shuffled, eyes half closed, as he reached the door. The door slid apart from the middle as piercing light burned his eyes. He covers his eyes as he walks into the common room, finding his way to the dining table at the kitchen section. He had a small bandage patch on his cheek. The rest of his bandages were under his clothes.

His technological friend looked back at him from the stove. "You look like someone force fed you beef."

Beast Boy grumbled. "No talkie. More soy eggie." Cyborg chuckled. "It's a crime to wake up at 7 in the morning." He looked at Cyborg, noting the shiny new parts. "Dude, you're shiny."

Cyborg showed a big smile as he 'flexed' his robotic arms. "Unlike you, I can just swap something out and BOOM. Good as new."

Beast Boy gave a tired glare. "Wish all my bruises would heal overnight. . . Where's fearless leader?"

Cyborg began fixing two batches of eggs, one soy and one real. He was going to respond, but an orange alien floated into the room to answer. "He was talking to the commissioner about the recent incidents. The police were. . . adamant to know further details regarding Raven's family, but Robin managed to give them an edited version." Beast Boy noticed the number of bandages around the alien.

Beast Boy sighed. "Where's Titans East? I almost forgot about them when everything finished."

Cyborg answered over his shoulder as he cooked. "Already on their way to Steel City. There's some stuff they need to stop there, but Bee stayed a while after to make sure she thanked us properly."

BB got a knowing smirk. "Dude, you two probably just scheduled your next date."

Cyborg had a small blush, retorting. "Just stick to your own dates."

"They'd have to be on weekends." The fourth voice cut in. Terra walked in, wrapping gauze around her upper arm and lower right leg. Beast Boy's eyes became hearts for a moment until his heart sank. He saw the schoolgirl uniform.

Beast Boy's voice was worried. "What's with the school outfit?"

Terra chuckled. "I'm still registered at school, Beast Boy." She smiled but held an apologetic look. "I'll still be going there, too. I'll be here the rest of the time, though. I had talked to Robin about it before we had the final battle yesterday. Think of me as a. . . part time Titan."

BB sputtered. "But. . . But . . . But Cyborg can teach ya. He gives us handouts and stuff!"

Cyborg muttered, annoyed. "You only do half of them. . ."

Terra looked at Cy. "Can I get my breakfast to go?" Cyborg flashed her a smirk. Terra looked over to Star, who stared out the window of the common room. "Where's Raven?"

. . . . .

"This is embarrassing."

"Quit your bitching."

"You wanted a relaxing spot."

Blue eyes dug into a book as the black haired girl hid her face. "The spot isn't the problem."

The blonde's head popped out from behind the brunette. Her pink eyes bounced between the book and her girlfriend. "Is the close contact making it hard to do something as simple as read, Rachael?" She teased.

Raven sighed. They were at the city park. The two sat in front of a tall concrete wall, Jinx leaning on it with her legs parted. Raven sat between her legs as Jinx had her arms wrapped around the empath. Jinx still wore her boots and black pants, but wore a loose pink v neck shirt. She had a few scrapes and bandages on her right arm. Raven wore boots and black pants, but instead of the usual blue jacket, she wore a tight blue short sleeve shirt. Black sleeves came out under the blue shirt from her undershirt. She has some bruises, but was otherwise untouched.

Raven blushed as she saw the people walking on the sidewalk a ways away. "What made you pick this spot?" She tried relaxing back into Jinx, but was still tense from the contact.

Jinx hugged the demi demon tighter. She smiled as she rested her head on Raven's left shoulder. "You don't remember? Look up."

The Titan sighed as she did so, immediately seeing what she was supposed to. Up at the top of the concrete wall was a small couple inch wide cracked space. Raven smiled. "I don't know if I should be sentimental or angry that you thought of this spot first."

The ex thief chuckled. Raven could feel the vibrating of Jinx's laughter through her back. "So what are we reading?"

Truthfully, Raven hadn't paid the slightest attention to the book in her hands. She closed it as she looked at the bag full of books to her side. "You bought all of these. You tell me what to read."

Jinx gave an over dramatic sigh. "Pick anything. All the books in your room are those lame ass ancient mythos and spell stories. Read something from this century."

Raven pursed her lips as she simply pulled one book from bag and put the first one back. "I would appreciate knowing what I'm about to read."

Jinx chuckled. "By the way, if you get called to a crime scene, I'll kill whoever caused it. You're a good blanket."

Raven hardly responded as she opened the book and began reading. Jinx hugged the demon closer as they both started reading from the page.

Raven muses to herself.

_It's weird. It's always assumed that the longer you fight and the more terrors you face, the more it breaks you down. Yet, with each crisis we face, we become exponentially stronger. _

_. . . . . _

_Whether it's the return of old friends. . ._

Terra waves goodbye to Beast boy as a rock lifts her off the island.

. . . . .

_The addition of new allies. . ._

A green glove shakes the hand of a red one. Robin smirks. "You sure you don't want to stick around?"

The red and yellow clad speedster smirks coolly. "Well, it would be fun, but I still have a family and a mentor to get back to. I'm not free to just move here."

Robin nodded, pulling his hand back and leaving a communicator in Kid Flash's hand. "Then here. You're officially an honorary Titan."

KF grins. "If you even find yourself in a bad situation, give me a call. I can be here in a flash. Later, Dick." He blurs into the distance, gone.

Robin smiles. "Later, Wally."

. . . . .

_A better understanding of our adversaries. . ._

Blackfire sits cross legged atop a skyscraper. "Where is he? . ."

"Talking to yourself?" She turns to see Red X with his arms crossed. "I guess you're pretty enough to afford talking to yourself."

Blackfire raises her eyebrow. "Are you always this rude?"

Red X chuckles. "Beautiful, you really haven't gotten to know me yet." He tosses a paper to her.

She catches it and starts reading, seeing the floor plan of a museum. "What's this?"

Red X shrugs. "A job. Interested?"

Blackfire smirks. "What happened to looking out for number one?"

". . . Not even I'm confident to fight seven or eight Titans at once."

. . . . .

_Or even help from family. . ._

"Are you sure you're not even going to say goodbye to her?" The blue haired demon lectured. Zane sighed before giving her an apologetic grin. "We are kind of her only family."

Zane waved her off as he looked into the sky. The two stood at the top of Titans Tower. "That's why. If anything happens, I'll come to protect you all." He looked back to Deliza. "Even you despite how annoying you are."

Deliza sighed. "Whatever, dog. You didn't really answer the question."

"You know I hate goodbyes." He smiled out into the distance. He could sense exactly where Raven and Jinx were. "It just feels like. . . if I don't say goodbye, then that means we'll see each other again, you know? It won't be a goodbye."

Deliza shook her head. "You're barely healed. You sure you can go back to the lands Azerall conquered."

He nodded. "With that bastard dead, I need to re establish dominance over the areas. Besides, I have some wrath I've been wanting to dish out for a while."

Deliza sighed. "Fine, have fun fighting." She then noticed something. "Why do you have a communicator?"

Zane looked at it a moment. "Robin handed it to me. I told him I was leaving." He sighed again. "I had explained how I'm not exactly a teen if I'm 900 years old but he said I looked the part."

Deliza smirked. "You'll still look the part by the time they're all gray in the hair."

He glared at her. "Watch it, little sis."

She laughed. "Be careful." He nodded before his eyes glowed red. He blasted off into the sky before disappearing into a red portal.

. . . . .

_Maybe even a few new tricks up our sleeves. . ._

Jinx leans back, a small bit of space between her and raven now. Beside he usual 'Jennifer' necklace, she wore the cross necklace she kept from Evaris.

Raven continued to read the book. She finished the page and started to turn it, but Jinx's index finger shot up to tell her to wait. Raven smirked as her look shifted to Jinx's face right beside her. Jinx was still reading the page. A second later, Jinx's index finger twitched three times to the left, signaling Raven to turn the page.

_Although, the biggest strength I've gotten. . . is something new to fight for._

She relaxed fully into Jinx as the two laid there, reading and enjoying the silence. Both held a smirk and would sneak glances at each other.

_Or rather. . . someone. . ._

Sunset was coming as Raven shut the book. She didn't really want to get up as she looked to her side, finding Jinx asleep and her head down like a weight on Raven's shoulder. Raven smiled as she looked out into the park. The sight she saw made her smile just a little bigger.

Two parents played with their son under the shade of a tree. Raven smiled. She had seen them before. The same couple that Raven couldn't relate to in the slightest, back when all this started. The same one that caused her to lose control, crack this concrete wall, and get rewarded with a falling blonde thief on top of her. The husband and the wife gave each other a kiss as Raven turned back to Jinx.

Raven gave Jinx a peck on the cheek, waking the ex thief. ". . . huh? What was that for?"

Raven smirked. "Time to get up. We gotta head back to the tower."

Jinx shuttered slightly. "Ehhhh five more minutes."

"Jennifer. . ."

"Fine." Jinx rubs her eye. "What page did we leave off on?"

Raven smirked at her. "You stopped on page 85. I finished it." Raven got up from Jinx's embrace. She stretched and looked down at Jinx.

The thief got up quickly, but still looked tired in her eyes. "You bitch. You should've waited for me."

Raven ignored that. "We gotta get back so we can get it ready." She had a smile.

Jinx quirked her brow. "Get what ready?"

"Your room." The demon smiled. Jinx's eyes widened before seeing Raven's hand held out, holding a small yellow device with a big T on it.

Jinx glanced back up at Raven, pointing at herself and looking in disbelief. Raven nodded, making Jinx get one of the biggest smiles she'd ever given, a true feat from her. She then looked disappointed.

Raven frowned. "What?"

Jinx looked back at her. "I was hoping I could just share your room." CRACK! A massive tree branch snapped off a tree near the two. Jinx smiled wider than before while Raven's face imitated a tomato. "I love that I can get you to do that."

Raven's eye twitched while her face was still red. "Don't make me rethink this relationship."

"You love me." Jinx smiled.

Raven smirked, still red in the cheeks. "Sadly, yes." Both comms rang. Raven flipped it open. "An alert."

She looked back to see Jinx smirking. "Time for my big face turn?" She pulls off her necklace, her hair snapping to pink. She pulls two bands from her pocket and pulls her hair into its horns.

Raven smiled as her hair turned violet. Her soul self wrapped the two for a second before revealing them in their costumes.

Jinx's eyes widened a little fear. "Wait. . . how are we getting there?" Raven smirked deviously as black energy appear. "Don't you dare, GOD DA-" Raven's soul self teleports the two away, cutting Jinx off.

_**The End**_

_**Still gonna do a list of all the references and jokes I've done in this story. It'll be chapter 26. **_

_**Thanks for the positive reviews and support. I do have a nice idea for sequel story, but I'm going to be doing something else before coming back to Teen Titans. Don't wanna burn myself out. That's usually what causes unfinished stories. Anyway, thanks for reading :)**_


	26. Chapter 26

_**This is a list of all the small in-jokes, quotes, and references I've put in the story.**_

Chapter 1, Control Freak's rant before Robin steps in to beat him is actually him quoting the very first scene from episode one of the show Frisky Dingo.

GNN NEWS: Lori Prince Live is a direct 100% rip off of the show of the same name created online by Doug Walker. The character Lori is described to look like him and the segments I made follow the way his go. However, the difference is I go pretty serious with it for a while and even when I introduce the Joker, I tried to make different jokes than he did, but yeah, I am not to credit for Lori's creation. It was something I wanted to use to add to my story. If you want to check out the inspiration, look it up. There's only two episodes of it sadly.

Chapter 1. The two people on GNN were Jim Gordon and Lex Luther. Both from DC comics and you all should know well who they are. All people I presented on the segments are characters from the real comics.

Chapter 2. When Raven first dreams about Zane fighting Azerall, the line of Azerall asking him to give up, Zane responds "I guess I never really learned how." This is a quote from Dragon Ball Z: Broly the Legendary Super Saiyan. Goku had survived an onslaught of Broly's attacks before demanding why Goku didn't give up. Goku responded with that line.

Chapter 2. from here out, at several points I use the 'phrasing' joke. That came from Archer.

Chapter 2. The Starbucks Coffee Milkshake argument as it started is actually an argument I learned of through the standup of Hal Sparks in Charmegeddon.

Chapter 2. Hugo Strange on the GNN skit is a batman villain for those who do not know.

Chapter 2. "MY CABBAGES" from Avatar: Last Airbender. Lol

Chapter 3. The line "Everyone's a hero of their own story." Is a popular phrase. I first heard it through Spoony of the Spoony Experiment online show. I decided to base some development from it.

Chapter 3. G. Gordon Godfrey is a reporter in the DCU. He's actually one of Darkseid's generals in disguise so he can turn public opinion away from heroes, hence why he's a dumb ass hole. Lois Lane is obvious.

Chapter 4. Jinx asks Raven why her mother never got a restraining order against her father, not knowing who they were. Raven, in response, roars out in the most non Raven like laughter ever seen. This is a more drawn out version of the exact same joke from SepticMind's Friday the 13th story, also based around Raven and Jinx. I loved the joke the first time, so I changed it a bit and used it myself. If SepticMind reads this, I applaud him/her. I loved it.

Chapter 6. Zane's muttering of "Ohhhh gooood for youuuu" is a joke from Christian Bale's freakout recording where he curses people out, yelling, "ohhhhh gooood for yooouuu, and how was it?"

Chapter 6. Thomas Elliot is the Batman villain Hush from the comics. Iris West Allan is aunt of Wally West(Kid Flash) and wife of Barry Allan(Flash).

Chapter 6. "Your stab at pragmatism is, well, adorable." is a quote from Lex Luther.

Chapter 7. Just a bit of Trivia. The idea of Wolf's rage and destructive tendencies being tempered by Zane's laziness is a twist on the idea of Majin Buu from DBZ, where Kid Buu absorbed the ultimate Kai and the good energy weakened him and made him controllable.

Chapter 7. The start of Jinx's nickname 'Traitor' for Terra. I didn't even notice I was writing that until about the fifth time, so it stuck easy. Pretty obvious why it's there.

Chapter 8. And here I bring in Joker. Even as just a joke and something to fill time, I tried thinking of good reasons to have Lori still around for a long time, basically just for times I'd run out of people to use in his news segments. I had considered that general from Wonder Woman's stories, but I could never get into him or Wonder Woman enough to want to include him, so some fun with the joker was well placed.

Chapter 8. I had attempted this story once before. I'll get into how disastrous that was. In this story, which I deleted, I had Raven do essentially what she does here, except it goes in a different way. Before, it was about making Terra want her memories back. This time, it was more about making her take responsibility and do it. Funny thing, the first time, one of the reviewers lovingly named Terra's mind Terramore. It's catchy, and take away the fact that it's Terra's name, it's good, but cheesy.

Chapter 8. Jinx calls Chang a 'Bucked Tooth Little Shit', a nickname given by Archer to Bucky the pirate in episode 2 season 3 of Archer. This is because Chang and Bucky's characters are voiced by the same guy, and both have weird ass teeth. Small animated world!

Chapter 8. Another Archer reference. I'm only just now realizing how many I put in here. Blood's first line in this story is from episode one of Archer in the introduction. Part of the opening monologue. . .

Chapter 10. "The cake was a lie" is a common joke surrounding the Portal game series.

Chapter 10. Jack Haly is obviously the owner of the circus, Haly's Circus, where Dick Grayson spent his early childhood before his parents were murdered, and his training with Batman started after that event.

Chatper 11. Zane's proclamations of "WRONG!" in the books before angrily correcting them can be one of two references, whichever you prefer. It can be slightly making fun of Spoony from the Spoony Experiment when he found wrong details in the Ultima series. OR, if you're a big superman fan, it could be from when Lex Luther was asking a man to talk back. The guy said, "You're crazy." To which Lex Luther laughs and says. "No, the other thing." He replies. "Superma-" Gets cut off and Luther yells. "WRONG!"

Chapter 11. I combined two lines from different series for Zane's punching of the wall. "A mulberry is a tree and Kuwabara is a man" from Yu Yu Hakusho, and the famous Limkara "I am a man!" Which is always followed by a punch. Zane's line? "A mulberry is a tree, and I AM A MAN!"

Chapter 11. Singles of doubles? I'm sure everyone's seen that DQ commercial. So cheesy.

Chapter 12. Cyborg's rant to shine his boot and ram it up Red X's ass is a twist on the Rock's popular wrestling phrase to "Shine it nice, turn that son bitch sideways and shove it straight up your candy ass."

Note. I notice as I go through these, that there are spelling errors a lot that DO NOT appear in my computer documents. Some spots are missing a word. Apparently, my OpenOffice does not work 100% with the downloads for the sight, so parts of the formatting screws up. Only way I can fix it is to go through each and every document on my account and modify it on the site itself, which sorry, but I'm too lazy to go through all my stuff a third time for two or three newly created mistakes.

Chapter 14. "You went into a fight over three against one. A cunning strategy. . ." Just a hilarious line the was re-used from DBZ abridged series. In DBZ abridged Raditz had said to Goku, "Attacking an opponent roughly four times your power. A cunning strategy. . . Wait, no. Not cunning. What's the opposite of that?" I had let Zane's own sarcasm let you all get that statements meaning without using the whole thing.

Chapter 14. Trivia note. Why in the hell would Robin not be able to find out everything everyone does? He's a trained detective from Batman, and Dick Grayson(Robin/Nightwing) is my second favorite DC comics hero. In case anyone's wondering, Wally West(Kid Flash/Flash) is my first, and Raven is my third.

Chapter 14. General Wade and Lucius Fox, both characters from DC comics.

Chapter 15. Yes. Deliza in this story was Eva, Hitler's wife. LOL

Chapter 15. Gonna go ahead and state the name meanings for everyone. As already explained by this point. Deliza means pleasure, which matches her sin of lust. Zane means gift from god, while Zane/Wolf's last name is adopted as Ulric, meaning power of the red wolf. His full name means gift of the red wolf god, so ironic. Gula is latin for Gluttony as explained later. Lyzza refers to a god by it's most popular definition, though when I made the name I used a different definition. Either works, since her names sort of stands as something unattainable, i.e. something to envy. Evaris's name was an extremely old language translation of his sin, though I sadly cannot remember the language at the time of this.

Chapter 16. "Your stab at pragmatism is, well, adorable." That line is one of my favorite lines from the entire run of the newer DC show Young Justice, courtesy of Lex Luther.

Chapter 16. Had more Joker slapstick, but threw in Beast Boy's mother, Marie Logan. For those of you who don't know or remember, Beast Boy's real name is Garfield Logan. . . . so lame. The joker slapstick was a lot more of the same lines from the GNN news videos where I got the idea, though I change stuff here and there to make it different.

Chapter 17. "Angels are assholes." I'll explain what the line meant after this list.

Chapter 17. "And then dad just shot him, it was weird." That line is a VERY obscure line from the random opening of a scene in an old sports movie. I found it through online internet reviews from the Nostalgia Critic, who later incorporated the line into his own film, Suburban Knights.

Chapter 17. Beast Boy's misunderstanding of how being lesbian works is an idea from the movie Chasing Amy. That movie's plot is centered around a straight male and a lesbian girl dating each other because they like the company, not sex. One of the funny conversations of the movie was the confusion the lead's best friend had about how girls do it, so he straight up asks her and engages conversation. Totally something BB would do.

Chapter 18. Another Archer reference, well it's a reference of a reference, but the METHOD of how I introduced was how Archer got excited in season five about a road trip and walked away yelling, "EAST BOUND AND DOWN!"

Chapter 18. Another Archer reference with the danger zone joke. . . . I should count how many Archer jokes I've taken because I swear this was unintentional.

Chapter 20. I kinda wanted to make Starfire and Blackfire's relationship more like Artemis and Cheshire's from Young Justice, even down to using the line "Fine, we're sisters. I don't actually want you dead."

Chapter 22. Couple anime references. Zane using clones to imitate Naruto's fighting style. The opening very much mimicking the opening narration to Death Note with the world rotting. And more. I had fun with their fight.

Chapter 23. "Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times. . ." Is another quote I enjoyed from Young Justice. Courtesy of Savage.

Chapter 23. DBZ abridged reference. Frieza asking piccolo to die. Piccolo says that isn't a question before getting cheap shot punched. Frieza states that's because he doesn't do requests. I used Blood and Slade for it instead.

Chapter 24. Jinx uses another DBZA reference with saying she's gonna kick Azerall in the schnoz, much like Goku with Frieza.

Chapter 24. Lori's quitting is similar to the Derrick Comedy video WQXR the cool breeze. In the video, a couple of radio hosts are trapped and. . . well they use the line, "I'm done. He's playing mind games now." Just look that up if you want to know what was messing with them. Quite hilarious.

Chapter 25. Raven's reflection on the events of the story and how the Titans were better off than before was structured a lot like the ending to an episode of the show Scrubs. An inner monologue by the main character in which each statement made would lead to a scene or interaction that directly showed the morals and everything the characters had experienced.

So yeah. I used a shit ton of references, so I hope it didn't show how horrible of a writer I am. Some stolen jokes, though I tried keeping them fresh as much as I could, and I hope you all enjoyed this story.

If you're curious to know about my previous attempt at this story, it was supposed to originally center around a criminal civil war between Slade and Blood. No demons. Just criminals. Even complete with a fair one v one between Slade and Blood. The problem that I had with that attempt was that the story didn't involve the titans enough and it seemed to drag, and I wasn't satisfied, so I deleted the story. However, a lot of it's elements remain present in this story. The Slade vs Blood, which evolved to the demon plot for Raven's character. Use of Red X, because he's an all round bad ass that really is an all time great anti-villain. The integration on Terra. Finally, the mass fights. The plot this time around was changed to involve Raven's siblings, mostly because from the very beginning I had the vision of SIN Raven, with four white eyes and a black cloak. It's the thing I wanted to build this story to because simply writing it was amazing. The first sibling was Zane, who is a full representation of me and my personality. Right down to making his look, Red hair, freckles, jean pants, blue/black assassin's creed jacket, exactly like mine. The jacket is one of my favorite things I wear in real life. The only physical difference between my look and his is blue eyes, which I had planned to give him whenever he was separated from Zane, but decided against it. His personality shows my own laziness, and I tried including some of my own mannerisms. From him, I wanted to make each child different, which eventually turned into giving each a back ground, and soon, I was making whole chapters just for their fights, trying to make each unique in some fashion. Though, I don't think I'm a good writer, I'd like to think I did okay with it.

As I said in #35. I have an idea for a sequel in the future. Like this story, it would involve the Titans, along with bringing Zane and Deliza back. It would be something involved with what Zane's done through his times on Earth, and would involve an actual angel character, or half angel half human to make them parallel to Raven. I have a good deal of ideas there, along with some humorous scenes to make involving Raven and Jinx living in the tower. As I said, this won't be the next story I write, however, because I don't want to get burned out and leave it unfinished, so it's also subject to a good deal of change. Rest assured, I can come up with at least one more ride with this continuity, but it'll be a while before its reappearance.

Thanks to everyone for positive reviews, and hope you enjoyed :)


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